[{"_1":2,"_98":-5,"_99":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,74,86],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":56,"_72":56,"_73":56},"mediaId",6653364,"mediaKeyId","2483724-06df0dbca028359c798263488f6a302f","parentId",2483724,"title","Kiribati survivor recounts nuclear-tests trauma; panelists urge broader engagement, criticize Japan’s absence","audioSeconds",422,"startMs",1093000,"endMs",1515000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2483724-06df0dbca028359c798263488f6a302f&start=1093&end=1515","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2483724-06df0dbca028359c798263488f6a302f/thumbnail_1093000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6653364/Kiribati-survivor-recounts-nuclear-tests-trauma-panelists-urge-broader-engagement-criticize-Japans-absence","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6653364-3828473635c5d7b7e59b509d6dae6d09/orig.mp4?Expires=1775343773&Signature=c-d-F59AU3dKhOnB3VVhNhXnUlSPkTMuk1uMIDCVW3UUGssrVbRI12V761rUil97CGmK8x7dpo6XBJhpWI99NiemaA-JZAziEpMjJEO1UCYmHKfRGCFhwBbe5OkAVE7oPkbvwXCz3~iGPF2v-T2oE4w6zn4wmOOcNosV5YvVmuTGpIU3MdTt9rm8D1L2lCA8aRgRkF-xUsn-ZjOLxLRW8U5J6f6LVtV08JS2YxjhR96SSaJBJO-amMO6JGdFcEQ-j4AX-8xFDoC62dEqIcVH~vxmO3XCre-1v-JOdFgXZrzBDU6YiFfzbCttyG~~z2xxkRzyZpICfD7EeRzF2Qeeaw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-03-04T13:00:25Z","article","Tarem Taogaru, a representative of affected communities from the Republic of Kiribati, described multi-generational harm from nuclear tests on Christmas (Kiritimati) Island and urged the meeting to deliver \"nuclear justice\" and outcomes on articles 6 and 7 of the treaty addressing victim assistance and environmental remediation.

\"My family endured the same trauma experienced by the 87 other families living on Christmas Island during the nuclear test,\" Taogaru said, describing relocation orders, the sound of explosions and long-term health effects in family members including cancers and deafness.

Taogaru said the tests by the United Kingdom in 1957–58 and the United States in 1962 \"profoundly impacted our lives\" and voiced hope that the meeting’s deliberations would produce tangible results she could bring back to victims’ associations in Kiribati.

In a later question about Japan’s absence, journalists noted that Japan is the only country to have experienced atomic bombings and that some Japanese parliamentarians and civil society support engagement with the TPNW. Ambassador Akan Rakhmuntullin said he was \"not in a position to comment\" on Japan’s sovereign decision but said Kazakhstan engages with Japanese NGOs and encouraged Japan to consider observer participation as a possible step. \"It's an entirely, solitary decision by the Japanese government,\" he said.

Melissa Park of ICAN was more direct: \"How extremely disappointing it is that Japan decided not to participate in this meeting, even as an observer,\" she said, adding that the Japanese public and Hibakusha advocates have urged the government to engage, particularly on victim assistance and remediation.

The briefing also covered the role of observers and so-called \"umbrella\" states (countries whose security policies rely in part on nuclear deterrence). Rakhmuntullin said observer participation can send a \"quite strong signal\" to domestic populations and the international community that a state is willing to engage with the TPNW process even if it has not yet joined. Park and other panelists noted that parliamentarians, cities and investors are increasingly active on the issue and that some umbrella states already attend in observer roles or send delegations to engage on specific issues such as victim assistance.

Taogaru’s testimony and the NGO and ICRC presentations framed the meeting’s deliberations this week as directly tied to obligations on victim assistance and remediation and as a venue where affected communities seek concrete outcomes.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - Press Conference | United Nations","oneSentenceSummary","A Kiribati delegate recounted three-generation harms from British and U.S. tests on Christmas (Kiritimati) Island; panelists and journalists questioned Japan’s non-participation and stressed the importance of observers and umbrella states attending the TPNW meeting.","taxTitle","United Nations, International","taxId",77382,"location","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_47":80,"_49":81,"_51":82,"_53":83,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":84,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":85,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":56,"_72":56,"_73":56},6653369,"ICAN and ICRC at TPNW meeting warn of catastrophic humanitarian consequences, press for victim assistance",621,408000,1029000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2483724-06df0dbca028359c798263488f6a302f&start=408&end=1029","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2483724-06df0dbca028359c798263488f6a302f/thumbnail_408000.jpg","/articles/6653369/ICAN-and-ICRC-at-TPNW-meeting-warn-of-catastrophic-humanitarian-consequences-press-for-victim-assistance","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6653369-1971c1d781507e4637838f338e679c1b/orig.mp4?Expires=1775343773&Signature=WRt6jx~exc9IEYFOImPHx6v-BXjxNWNPdVgSpPDHTynjlvLJH64RdCTHUe3gslrrpU7sVSNpv6fswKMP9E5SARw1sXuPn-sgnZLN3BEDDtDB6gLdHuCrTJtYZT-fvNrUKuAbOzuAyuwEcR-194Ygxh2d8m15qVHBWMzcQtoacsSppLld6WLYFLpNvzlQA8ccwTMltBwCqIOfXV0CNUPDji5WgmoE99fNk3cFWtXgyEKFKi7Ns578jGm2mUI88DP-pvx2EgMEp27LadYbKWKolGooJ~w7lB4nVz~Q0ZoxQ~o5dSCasvdLibLRwMk~ZXbrb5E~WXPMUbXGjonNisZcFA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Speakers from civil society and the International Committee of the Red Cross urged meeting participants to treat the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as the primary international framework for addressing the humanitarian harm caused by nuclear weapons.

\"This treaty provides the only international framework for addressing these harms to people and the environment and for ensuring that they never happen again,\" said Melissa Park, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), citing the treaty’s focus on elimination and prevention of use.

Park noted that the meeting is taking place in an anniversary year for the Trinity test and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and emphasized that \"so long as any country has nuclear weapons and insist they are essential for their security, others will want them,\" adding that elimination of the weapons is the only way to eliminate the risk of their use.

Irini Georgiou, legal adviser for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the briefing that nuclear weapons’ humanitarian impacts are unprecedented and long-lasting. \"Mitigating the tremendous harm caused by nuclear weapons use and testing is an important element of achieving a nuclear weapon free world,\" Georgiou said, and she described victim assistance and environmental remediation as \"robust obligations\" the treaty seeks to establish.

Georgiou also said it is \"extremely doubtful that nuclear weapons could ever be used in compliance with international humanitarian law,\" and called on states to refrain from nuclear threats, saying such threats \"fuel tensions, trigger an arms race, and increase the risk of actual use.\"

Both speakers emphasized that the treaty is not simply aspirational. Park said the treaty is producing measurable signals—parliamentarians, cities and investors are engaging with the disarmament agenda—and that civil society participation at the meeting is substantial. Georgiou said the ICRC will continue to work with states parties and other states to advance humanitarian objectives and implementation.","Speakers from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the International Committee of the Red Cross told a UN press briefing the treaty is the primary international instrument to address humanitarian harm from nuclear weapons and urged states to implement victim assistance and environmental remediation obligations.",{"_33":87,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":88,"_41":89,"_43":90,"_45":91,"_47":92,"_49":93,"_51":94,"_53":95,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":96,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":97,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":56,"_72":56,"_73":56},6653374,"Kazakh president of TPNW meeting urges universalization, cites recent ratifications",217,173000,390000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2483724-06df0dbca028359c798263488f6a302f&start=173&end=390","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2483724-06df0dbca028359c798263488f6a302f/thumbnail_173000.jpg","/articles/6653374/Kazakh-president-of-TPNW-meeting-urges-universalization-cites-recent-ratifications","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6653374-cb97f95e428e443c543982543eae13f7/orig.mp4?Expires=1775343773&Signature=dAdv0U5LrHgpzhcesSG-p~acwnDo8kxg0BWMaO1CKR19TURdRup~WcEuBUC9KyDSqfO~jZBBli3uECAIrIrAgr-180ROIUebiDK0d7PGhfUBqx2UI5-ryX0h7Z2~bkhdzRJ3QFhin4gc5Hkj~VTvE58SmV2NIe0AxH8tW5xs2c9S0S5ypSs5~xBsO2OVZcz8v0jkxe23nsjOdCMR5XAPssytJ04maBUqQkj-vNs8CvwwBIn8FVuYdTJqm4U-U53Mpm-I~kIDy~cxO2YJtsQIDwMCKEulAvX~g3YMX~gzhayeyOay2G2~3tbpofc9OqqFqHVY2I6C9HjmXAP6ZNaXRw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Akan Rakhmuntullin, the president of the third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and First Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, opened the press briefing at the United Nations by urging greater universalization of the treaty and highlighting recent ratifications.

\"We have to work on the, according to the, it's the structure of the treaty on the universalization, to emphasize the critical need for broader participation and ratification to increase the number of those who ratified and joined during the, treaty,\" Rakhmuntullin said, adding that four states—Indonesia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone and the Solomon Islands—had recently ratified the treaty.

Rakhmuntullin described the meeting as an opportunity for states parties, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to review the treaty's operation and to prepare final documents including a declaration and decisions. He said the conference will address issues including universality, the total elimination of nuclear weapons, victim assistance and security concerns.

He noted Kazakhstan’s historical role as a former nuclear test site and a state that relinquished nuclear weapons after the breakup of the Soviet Union, framing that history as a reason for Kazakhstan’s active role in the process. \"Our government has never regretted... giving away its nuclear arsenal,\" he later told a questioner, saying the decision was the \"only vital and the only right decision.\" He characterized Kazakhstan’s approach as seeking peaceful coexistence and cooperation with neighboring states.

Rakhmuntullin said negotiators were working on final documents and expected decisions on victim assistance and environmental remediation to be considered, citing a working group on those issues. He described the meeting as \"another very good opportunity\" to compare notes and identify ways forward toward the treaty’s review processes.

The press briefing opened for questions after the panel presentations; Rakhmuntullin answered inquiries about Japan’s absence from the meeting, observers and the political context that shapes states’ participation.

The meeting described at the briefing is scheduled to run through the week and to consider formal steps to advance implementation and universality of the TPNW.","Akan Rakhmuntullin, president of the third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, called for broader participation in the TPNW and cited four recent ratifications as momentum for the treaty.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Kiribati survivor recounts nuclear-tests trauma; panelists urge broader engagement, criticize Japan’s absence

ICAN and ICRC at TPNW meeting warn of catastrophic humanitarian consequences, press for victim assistance

Kazakh president of TPNW meeting urges universalization, cites recent ratifications