Human rights in the Marshall Islands Human rights in the Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands is a country in the Pacific spread over 29 coral atolls, with 1,156 islands and islets. It has an estimated population of 68,480 and is one of the sixteen member states of the Pacific Islands Forum. Since 1979, the Marshall Islands has been self-governing. While the Marshall Islands has a Bill of Rights guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedom from discrimination, it is home to a number of human rights issues. According to the Marshall Islands 2015 Human Rights Report, the "most significant human rights problems included prison conditions, chronic government corruption,
Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands was established as Mission sui juris of Marshall Islands, on territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of New Pomerania (mainly New Britain, in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea). On April 5, 1923, the independent mission was suppressed, its territory being merged into the then Apostolic Vicariate of Mariana, Caroline and Marshall Islands. On April 23, 1993, Pope John Paul II split the former Diocese of Carolines-Marshalls into the Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands and the Diocese of Caroline Islands. In 2007, Father James Gould, apostolic prefect, resigned. Father Raymundo Sabio, a Filipino missionary, was chosen