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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