Monthly Archives: June 2025

BREAKING NEWS: Hawai‘i Attorney General Acknowledges Hawai‘i is Occupied and that War Crimes are being Committed

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24

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 12, 2025

HONOLULU, Hawaiian Kingdom—Press release from the office of Edward Halealoha Ayau. On June 3, 2025, attorney Edward Halealoha Ayau, on behalf of his client Maui Police Detective Kamuela Lanakila Mawae, hand delivered a 10-page letter to State of Hawai‘i Attorney General Anne Lopez. That letter addresses legal concerns regarding the status of Hawai‘i as an occupied State and potential war crimes being committed by law enforcement officers.

To download Ayau’s letter to the Attorney General go to this link.

In the letter, Ayau stated, “on behalf of my client, I am respectfully submitting to you a deadline by June 11, 2025, for you to make public the legal opinion, as formally requested by former Senator Crabbe, that clearly states, by citing sources of international law, i.e. treaties, custom, general principles of law, and judicial decisions and scholarly writings, that the State of Hawai‘i is within the territory of the United States and not within the territory of the Kingdom.” He also stated that if “you do not make public your legal opinion by this day, my client will be forced to comply with the law of occupation.”

As of today, Lopez did not make public a legal opinion as requested by former Senator Crabbe. According to Ayau, “the significance of Lopez’s failure to provide a legal opinion that was formally requested back in September of 2024 is an acknowledgment that Hawai‘i is an occupied State and not the State of Hawai‘i, and that war crimes are being committed.”

In his letter to Lopez, Ayau referenced Judge James Crawford of the International Court of Justice who stated, there “is a presumption that the State continues to exist, with its rights and obligations…despite a period in which there is no, or no effective, government,” and he goes on to state that military occupation “does not affect the continuity of the State, even where there exists no government claiming to represent the occupied State.”

Ayau also referenced Professor Matthew Craven, an international law scholar from the University of London (SOAS) that wrote a legal opinion on the Hawaiian Kingdom’s continued existence as a State under international law. Craven wrote, “If one were to speak about a presumption of continuity, one would suppose that an obligation would lie upon the party opposing that continuity to establish the facts substantiating its rebuttal. The continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom, in other words, may be refuted only by reference to a valid demonstration of legal title, or sovereignty, on the part of the United States, absent of which the presumption remains.” 

Ayau also referenced renowned expert and scholar, Professor William Schabas from Middlesex University London, who authored a legal opinion for the Royal Commission of Inquiry identifying war crimes being committed since January 17, 1893. One of those war crimes is the unlawful imposition of American laws and administrative measures within the territory of an occupied State, which is called the war crime of usurpation of sovereignty during military occupation.

Ayau stated in his letter, “If you do not make public your legal opinion by this day, my client will be forced to comply with the law of occupation where the Maui Police Department will continue to exist under the provisional laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom that was proclaimed by the Council of Regency in 2014 because it does “not run contrary to the express, reason and spirit of the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom,” which is explained on page 222 of the Council of Regency’s operational plan to transition the State of Hawai‘i into a Military Government, which I am attaching.”

Ayau further stated, “My client while continuing to perform his duties as a police officer, will call for the lawful transformation of the State of Hawai‘i into a Military Government according to the Council of Regency’s operational plan. It is the legal duty of Lieutenant Colonel Michael Rosner, who is the most senior commander in the Hawai‘i Army National Guard, to immediately transform the State of Hawai‘i into a Military Government in accordance with international humanitarian law, the law of occupation, U.S. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01, and Army regulations, so that the war crime of usurpation of sovereignty during military occupation would cease and that Hawaiian Kingdom laws, together with the provisional laws, will be administered. Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Phelps is the Army National Guard’s Staff Judge Advocate to advise LTC Rosner of his military duties as the theater commander of the Occupied State of the Hawaiian Kingdom.”

Ayau also stated in his letter that Native Hawaiians, irrespective of blood quantum, comprise the majority of the citizenry of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He stated that as aboriginal Hawaiian subjects they have certain rights under Hawaiian Kingdom law.

Under Hawaiian Kingdom laws, aboriginal Hawaiian subjects are the recipients of free health care at Queen’s Hospital and its outlets across the islands. In its budget, the Hawaiian Legislative  Assembly would allocate money to the Queen’s Hospital for the healthcare of aboriginal Hawaiian subjects. The United States stopped allocating monies from its Territory of Hawai‘i Legislature in 1909. Aboriginal Hawaiian subjects are also able to acquire up to 50-acres of public lands at $20.00 per acre under the 1850 Kuleana Act.

The greatest dilemma for aboriginal Hawaiians today is having a home and health care. The average cost of a home today is $820,000.00. And health care insurance for a family of 4 is at $1,500 a month. According to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ Native Hawaiian Health Fact Sheet 2017, “Today, Native Hawaiians are perhaps the single racial group with the highest health risk in the State of Hawai‘i. This risk stems from high economic and cultural stress, lifestyle and risk behaviors, and late or lack of access to health care.”

Ayau says, “The denial of Native Hawaiian rights under kingdom law for over a century can no longer be tolerated, and compliance with international law and the law of occupation will correct this international crime.”

Contact: Edward Halealoha Ayau, Esq.
Attorney for Maui Detective
Kamuela Lanakila Mawae
(808) 646-9015
halealohahapai64@gmail.com

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BREAKING NEWS: Maui Police Detective asks Attorney General if He is Liable for War Crimes by Enforcing American Laws

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16

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 3, 2025

HONOLULU, Hawaiian Kingdom—Press release from the office of Edward Halealoha Ayau. Today, Attorney General Anne Lopez received a 10-page letter, with attachments, from Edward Halealoha Ayau who is the attorney representing Maui Police Detective Kamuela Lanakila Mawae. That letter addresses legal concerns regarding the status of Hawai‘i as an occupied State and potential war crimes being committed by law enforcement officers.

In 2022, Mawae and Patrolman Scott McCalister requested legal services regarding Hawai‘i’s political status. They sought assurance that enforcing U.S. laws does not violate international law. On behalf of Mawae and McCalister, Chief John Pelletier formally requested legal services from Maui’s Corporation Counsel. Corporation Counsel’s response to Pelletier was evasive and did not address what was asked.

In 2024, a letter from Mawae and 36 other retired and active police officers urged Major General Kenneth Hara to establish a military government in Hawai‘i. ​They expressed concern over the lack of transition to military governance, which could implicate officers in unlawful actions. In that letter they stated, “It is deeply troubling that the State of Hawaii has not been transitioned into a military government as mandated by international law. This failure of transition places current police officers on duty that they may be held accountable for unlawfully enforcing American laws. This very issue was brought to the attention of the Maui County Corporation Counsel by Maui Police Chief John Pelletier in 2022.” Ayau noted that Hara did not perform his duty under international law and Army Regulations and consequently became the subject of the Hawaiian Royal Commission of Inquiry’s War Criminal Report no. 24-0001 for the war crime by omission.

Ayau’s letter referred to former Senator Cross Makani Crabbe’s request to the Attorney General dated September 19, 2024, for a legal opinion on Hawai‘i’s status, emphasizing the need for clarity on its legality. ​Crabbe made the request because of his concern that he and other members of the Legislature were committing war crimes by enacting American laws. Crabbe stated in his request, “As a Senator that represents the 22nd district, I am very concerned by these allegations that the State of Hawai‘i, as a governing body, is not legal because the Hawaiian Kingdom continues to exist as an occupied State under international law.” The Attorney General has not responded, which Ayau stated is now at eight months since the initial request.

Ayau’s letter references legal opinions from scholars asserting the Hawaiian Kingdom’s continued existence under international law. ​It highlights the absence of a treaty ceding Hawaiian sovereignty to the United States, questioning the legitimacy of U.S. claims to sovereignty over Hawai‘i and the impact it has on all law enforcement officers of the State of Hawai‘i and the four Counties. Ayau cites renowned expert and scholar, Professor William Schabas from Middlesex University London, who authored a legal opinion for the Royal Commission of Inquiry identifying war crimes being committed since January 17, 1893. One of those war crimes is the unlawful imposition of American laws and administrative measures within the territory of an occupied State, which is called the war crime of usurpation of sovereignty during military occupation.

In the letter, Ayau stated, “on behalf of my client, I am respectfully submitting to you a deadline by June 11, 2025, for you to make public the legal opinion, as formally requested by former Senator Crabbe, that clearly states, by citing sources of international law, i.e. treaties, custom, general principles of law, and judicial decisions and scholarly writings, that the State of Hawai‘i is within the territory of the United States and not within the territory of the Kingdom.” He also stated that if “you do not make public your legal opinion by this day, my client will be forced to comply with the law of occupation.”

“In 1893, a political crime was committed by the United States against the Hawaiian Kingdom,” said Ayau, “and this led to the American theft of a country that was internationally recognized worldwide.” He then stated, “we are repatriating our country according to the rules of international law so that this American occupation will come to an end.”

To download Ayau’s letter to the Attorney General go to this link.

Contact: Edward Halealoha Ayau, Esq.
Attorney for Maui Detective Kamuela Lanakila Mawae
(808) 646-9015halealohahapai64@gmail.com