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,
Japanese settlement in the Marshall Islands report published by a German explorer, Hambruch in 1915 mentioned that three Japanese fishermen in a junk were massacred by the Marshallese at Lae Atoll in 1910. A military administration was established when Japan annexed the Marshall Islands from Germany in 1914. The Japanese government subsequently dispatched a few administrators to the Marshall Islands. Between 1915 and 1918, a few Japanese businessmen from the South Seas Trading Company ("Nanyo Boeki") sailed to the Marshall Islands and established a few trading stations at Rongrong, Talab and Majuro village. A typhoon struck Majuro in 1918 and the businessmen relocated their trading posts