complaint,called a petition,
English and French,

as U.N.

is available to you,

in both

document T/COM.10/L.301.

We

bring this lawsuit to your attention because it involves in
part the failure of the United States to meet its obligations
to the Bikinians under the Trusteeship Agreement.

Let me

describe it briefly.
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides
that the Government cannot take private property without paying

its owners "just compensation".
Bikinians'

The first two counts of the

lawsuit against the United States allege violation

of this Constitutional provision.

In essence,

they claim.that

the United States has taken, and continues to take, Bikini Atoll
without vroviding just compensation to the people.

The first

count also seeks compensation for the complete destruction of

three islands at Bikini Atoll by the 1954 "Bravo" shot, the
second of the U.S.

hydrogen bomb tests, which was 750 times

more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb and was the largest
single explosion

ever detonated by the United States.

Since the allegations in these counts relate to
violations of U.S.
Council

law, they involve matters with which this

is only indirectly concerned.

We mention these claims

here only for background purposes.
However,

the third count of the petition does

a matter of great importance to this body.

involve

That count contends

that the United States has breached fiduciary obligations owed

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