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UNCLASSIFIED
ENCLOSURE II
Mafuro, 11 March 1956
Sir,
In accordance with rule 84 paragraph 1 of the rules of
procedure of the Trusteeship Council, I have the honour to
transmit to you a communication dated 9 March 1956 from the
Marshallese Congress Hold-Over Committee which was received
by the Visiting Mission to the Trust Territories in the Pacific.
A copy of this communication has been transmitted to the
Acting High Commissioner of the Trust Territory.
In transmitting the present communication to the SecretaryGenerali the Mission wishes to record the circumstances in which
it was received.
On 8 March 1956, the Mission held a meeting at Majuro
with the members of tne Marshallese Congress Hold~-OQver Committee in the course of which a wide range of matters came
under discussion.
The Committee stated that the people of
the Marshall Islands had been informed officially that further
nuclear tests would take place in the near future in the Trust
Territory.
The Commitiee wished to go on rocord before the
Visiting Mission that they reiterated the position they had
taken when they presented their petition in April 1954, namely;
(a) that nuclear explosion tests in the Marshalls be discon-
tinued; (b) that if these experiments were absolutely necessary
for the eventual well-being of all the people of the
world
and could not take place elsewhere, all measures enumerated
in their petition (T/Pet.10/28) should be taken.
On the following day the Mission held a private meeting
eo? its own to discuss several matters.
During this meeting,
doubts were expressed as to whether it was the intention of
the Hold~Over ,Committee that their statement should be brought
-to the attention of the Trusteeship Council prior to the com-
mnietion of the Visiting Mission's report.
In order to clarify
che situation, the Mission called in a representative of the
Hold~-Over Committee who stated that the Committee wished to
have its views brought to the immediate attention of the Trusteeship Council and was prepared to put them tn writing.
March the Mission received the present communication.
On 10
The Mission also desires to record that during a discussion with him, the Acting High Commissioner informed the
Mission that all possible precautions were being taken to ensure
the safety and the well-being of the people in the vicinity of
the test areas.
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Enclosure II