13 September 2012: The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) convened a Dialogue on Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes on 13 September 2012, in Geneva, Switzerland. The dialogue focused on the need to increase assistance to the Marshall Islands in facing the consequences of nuclear weapons testing, and was informed by the Report of the Special Rapporteur on human rights obligations related to environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste.

In his address, Calin Georgescu, Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste, reiterated his concern at the practice by transnational corporations of using private security companies to guard key geostrategic sites, and their suppression of legitimate social protest against the unsound disposal of hazardous substances. He also called on the international community to provide increased assistance to the Marshall Islands in facing the consequences of nuclear weapons testing.

In the interactive dialogue, speakers noted the existence of measures such as coordination mechanisms across industries and multilateral and bilateral cooperation, such as the Basel and Hague Conventions, but reiterated the concerns and gaps identified in the report. While some welcomed the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur with a view to developing new international norms and instruments to strengthen the regulatory framework, others argued that the focus of future work should be on the implementation of current instruments through the development of national measures. Many speakers recognized the continued presence of radioactive contaminants in the Marshall Islands, and reaffirmed a special responsibility of the US towards the people of the Marshall Islands. Australia noted that it, together with other Pacific Leaders, had reaffirmed recognition of the special circumstances pertaining to the continued presence of radioactive contaminants in the Marshall Islands, at the Pacific Island Forum held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in August 2012, and welcomed the Special Rapporteur’s report as a contribution to dialogue in the spirit of reconciliation.

The US expressed its belief that nuclear testing was not fundamentally an issue of sound management and disposal of hazardous waste, and said it felt so even more strongly when the issue was described as one of improper disposal. It noted that it disagreed with the assertion that the international community has a continued obligation to encourage a final and just resolution of the issues. The Special Rapporteur said he received communication from the US noting that nuclear testing was outside of his mandate, but reaffirmed that nuclear testing is within the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. [HRC Summary of Dialogue] [Publication: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights obligations related to environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste, Calin Georgescu] [Corrigendum] [Addendum 1] [Addendum 2]