Puna Council Member Jen Ruggles received confirmation that Hawaii’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), Special Agent in Charge, Sean Kaul, received her letter reporting Queen’s Hospital and Hawaii Circuit Court Judges for alleged war crimes Monday. Ruggles opened the letter by writing, “To my dismay, I have become aware of Hawai‘i’s status as a nation-state, under international law, which has been under an illegal occupation by the United States since it, by its own admission, illegally overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom government on January 17, 1893.”

Ruggles made reference to a memorandum released by the United Nation Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner that she says, caused her to look into the issue of potential war crimes more seriously. Ruggles says the memorandum uses the terms “plundering,” “enabling,” and “colluding,” and that she could not take it lightly. In her report to the FBI, she also referred to an article published by the National Education Association in April this year which concluded Hawaii is illegally occupied and that the laws of war apply. The NEA is America’s largest union in the United States with over 3 million members. The Hawaii State Teacher’s association is Hawaii’s chapter.

According to Ruggles, war crimes are felonies and she is legally obligated to report felonies under Title 18 United States Code §4 “Misprision of a Felony” which reads that any person, “having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.” Ruggles says the FBI’s primary responsibility is to investigate federal crimes. Ruggles also cc’d the International Criminal Court located in the Hague, Netherlands.

Ruggles said, “if the FBI has evidence that the Hawaiian Kingdom does not exist as an independent nation State that has been in an unjust state of war with the U.S. since 1893, and that war crimes and the international crime of genocide as defined under federal law have not taken place, I want to see that evidence. If not, then the FBI is obligated to immediately initiate a criminal investigation.”

Last month Ruggles had sent a letter to Queen’s Hospital explaining how it appears they are committing war crimes against protected persons by abrogating their original charter which mandated free health care to aboriginal Hawaiians. Ruggles also sent a letter to every Hawaii State Circuit Court Judge outlining how foreclosures violate the rights of protected persons in Hawaii, (including Americans), and constitute war crimes.

Ruggles wants to be clear that she is not advocating for those who borrowed money from the lender to disregard their debt owed. As she stated in the letter to the judges, “The lender is protected under the loan title insurance policy that was purchased by the borrower as a condition of the loan. As such, there is no reason to have any foreclosure proceedings in the first place because the defects in titles have rendered all mortgage liens invalid.” According to Ruggles, a defect in title is a covered risk in the loan title insurance policy, and, as such, the lenders should file an insurance claim to have the insurance company pay off the debt owed since the borrower was required to purchase the insurance policy to protect the lender as a condition of the loan.

During Ruggles’ last town hall she announced that she would be “putting every agent of the United States on notice concerning the rights of protected persons.”

#ProtectedPersonsHawaii
#WarCrimesHawaii

Ruggles Puts Hawai‘i State Judges on Notice for Appearing to Commit War Crimes in Foreclosure Proceedings

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

Informs judges that foreclosure proceedings appear to be in violation of Article 46 of the Hague Convention, IV and Article 47 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV

Council member Ruggles released a letter today that she says she sent to all Hawai‘i Circuit Court judges meant to advocate on behalf of protected persons in foreclosure proceedings.

Ruggles says “Article 46 of the Hague Convention IV provides that ‘Private property cannot be confiscated,” and article 47 of the Geneva Convention IV provides, “Pillage is formally forbidden.”

Ruggles referred to the United Nations Human Rights Independent Expert, Dr. Alfred deZaya’s memorandum that had been sent to Hawaii State Judges in February of this year that stated, “The State of Hawaii courts should not lend themselves to a flagrant violation of the rights of the land title holders and in consequence of pertinent international norms. Therefore, the courts of the State of Hawaii must not enable or collude in the wrongful taking of private lands, bearing in mind that the right to property is recognized not only in U.S. law but also in Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights…”

Ruggles wrote that “The ‘wrongful taking of private lands’ by lenders, through the circuit courts of the State of Hawai‘i under foreclosure proceedings, appears to be the war crime of pillaging and that the courts appear to be complicit in a war crime by enabling and colluding ‘in the wrongful taking of private lands.’

Before lenders loan money they require the borrower to mortgage their real estate as collateral to secure the repayment of the loan. In order for the lender to accept the mortgaged property as collateral, the lender requires the borrower to also purchase a loan title insurance policy for the protection of the lender. The title insurance covers the full debt owed under the promissory note.

“As an agent for the United States I am bound ‘to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances,’ and, therefore, call upon you to cease and desist ‘in the wrongful taking of private lands’ from protected persons that are under foreclosure,” Ruggles wrote, “the lender is protected under the loan title insurance policy that was purchased by the borrower as a condition of the loan. As such, there is no reason to have any foreclosure proceedings in the first place…”

Ruggles finished the letter by stating, “This letter serves as knowledge and ‘awareness of the factual circumstances that established the existence of an armed conflict’ between the Hawaiian Kingdom and the United States, the application of the HCIV and GCIV, and the protection afforded to protected persons.”

Ruggles sent the letters via certified mail and that she’s verified every judge across the islands received her letter on the Big Island and Oahu on September 25th, Kauai on September 26th, and Maui on September 27th.

Council member Ruggles will be holding a town hall on October 15th at 6pm at the Kea‘au Community Center to discuss this letter, among others that she is working on.

#ProtectedPersonsHawaii
#WarCrimesHawaii

NEA Teachers Union Published Article on the American Occupation of Hawai‘i

Posted on October 3, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

This past April, the National Education Association (NEA), being the largest labor union in the United States comprised of public school teachers, administrators, and faculty and administrators of universities, published an article on its website titled “The Illegal Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government.”

The article is a departure from the common belief that Hawai‘i is the 50th State of the American Union. Instead, Hawai‘i is an independent State that has been under an illegal and prolonged occupation by the United States since January 17, 1893.

The NEA acknowledged that “on December 18, 1893, the President proclaimed by manifesto, in a message to the United States Congress, the circumstances for committing acts of war against the Hawaiian Kingdom that transformed a state of peace to a state of war on January 16, 1893.” Without a treaty of peace, the Hawaiian Kingdom and the United States remain in a state of war and the Hawaiian Islands have been under a prolonged occupation. The NEA concluded in its article:

Despite the unprecedented prolonged nature of the illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom by the United States, the Hawaiian State, as a subject of international law, is afforded all the protection that international law provides. “Belligerent occupation,” concludes Judge Crawford in his book The Creation of States in International Law (2nd ed., 2006), “does not affect the continuity of the State, even where there exists no government claiming to represent the occupied State (p. 34).” Without a treaty of peace, the laws of war and neutrality would continue to apply.

The significance of this article is that the NEA has taken a position based on historical facts and not political leanings. The article will be referenced by teachers across the United States that explains to their students the lawful status of the Hawaiian Kingdom under international law.

The NEA’s article stems from a resolution that was passed by its delegates who met at their annual convention in 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The resolution was introduced by the delegates of the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association, which is an affiliate labor union of the NEA, and it passed on July 4, 2017. The resolution was referred to as New Business Item 137, which stated:

The NEA will publish an article that documents the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1893, the prolonged occupation of the United States in the Hawaiian Kingdom and the harmful effects that this occupation has had on the Hawaiian people and resources of the land.

#ProtectedPersonsHawaii
#WarCrimesHawaii

Council Member Jenn Ruggles Puts Queen’s Hospital on Notice for Committing War Crimes Against Native Hawaiians

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

Council member Jen Ruggles released a letter she sent last week notifying Queen’s Health Systems of the illegal and prolonged occupation of Hawai’i and how it appears it may be violating the rights of protected persons in Hawai’i. She stated that she, as an agent for the United States, which is an occupying Power, and one who took an oath to support the constitution of the United States, is bound to uphold the 1907 Hague Convention, IV, and the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, and ensure respect for the conventions in all circumstances.

In her letter Council member Ruggles referenced a February 25, 2018 communication from United Nations Independent Expert, Dr. Alfred M. deZayas, to the State of Hawai‘i judges in which he stated:

“I have come to understand that the lawful political status of the Hawaiian Islands is that of a sovereign nation-state in continuity; but a nation-state that is under a strange form of occupation by the United States resulting from an illegal military occupation and a fraudulent annexation. As such, international laws (the Hague and Geneva Conventions) require that governance and legal matters within the occupied territory of the Hawaiian Islands must be administered by the application of the laws of the occupied state (in this case, the Hawaiian Kingdom), not the domestic laws of the occupier (the United States).”

The U.S. Senate ratified the Hague and Geneva Conventions making both of these treaties part of federal law under Article VI of the federal constitution and which must be faithfully carried out in territory that the United States is occupying. As a whistle blower, Council member Ruggles sees it as her duty to hold individuals and other officials of the State of Hawai‘i and the United States government accountable for violations of the provisions of the Hague and Geneva Conventions and the rights of civilians within the occupied territory under the title of protected persons.

Council member Ruggles came to learn that the Queen’s Hospital was formed as a corporation on June 20, 1859. Article One of the Hospital’s Charter provides for the establishment of a permanent hospital for the “treatment of indigent sick and disabled Hawaiians, as well as such foreigners and others who may choose to avail themselves of the same.” It was understood, at the time, that the term ‘Hawaiians’ meant aboriginal Hawaiians, both pure and part. Under the Charter, the Hawaiian Monarch served as President of a Board of Trustees comprised of ten persons to be appointed by the government and ten persons to be elected by corporation shareholders.

The government appropriated funding for the maintenance of the hospital.

In 1900, George W. Smith, a Trustee of Queen’s Hospital, stated in an article published by the Pacific Commercial Advertiser that “Queen’s Hospital is, from the nature of its charter, a quasi-private institution. When it was chartered it was provided that all Hawaiians of native birth, should be treated free of charge. Foreigners were to be treated by payment of fees.”

No other country or government in the world at the time is known by her to have had such a system of government subsidized health care for a majority of its national population which was free of charge. The Soviet government followed this practice in 1920, but that was due to the political theory of communism. After the Second World War, in 1948, the British government followed suit, which, like the Hawaiian Kingdom, was not a communist State. The Nordic countries followed with Sweden in 1955, Iceland in 1956, Norway in 1956, Denmark in 1961, and Finland in 1964. The United States has never subsidized health care free of charge.

After pressure to sever the Hawaiian government’s interest in Queen’s Hospital and to no longer admit native Hawaiians free of charge, the Board of Trustees, with the approval of Territorial Governor, Walter F. Frear, amended the Charter. In 1909, the phrase in the original 1859 Charter “for the treatment of indigent sick and disabled Hawaiians” was replaced with “for the treatment of sick and disabled persons.” The change was made secretively. The only news coverage it received at the time was in one newspaper, the Evening Bulletin, which made no mention of the change of servicing aboriginal Hawaiians free of charge. Under the title of “IS APPROVED TRUSTEES REDUCED,” the Bulletin wrote,

“By the new amendment to their character, the application for which was approved by Governor Frear this morning, the number of trustees of Queen’s Hospital will be reduced from twenty to seven members. The responsibility of the government trusteeship will also cease with the new articles of incorporation.”

By 1939, Victor Stewart Kaleoaloha Houston, a former Congressional delegate for the Territory of Hawai‘i, “was presenting lectures at various Hawaiian Civic Clubs castigating Queen’s Hospital for ignoring Native Hawaiians’ medical needs and reneging on the promises of the original charter. In newspapers the main themes of Houston’s one man challenge to Queen’s practices was set out for the public by these questions: What ever happened to free medical care for Hawaiians and what is Queen’s doing with the Queen Emma Trust monies?”

Gradually aboriginal Hawaiians were denied health care unless they paid, and as time went on, this provision of the Queen’s Hospital charter was nearly forgotten. In 1967, the name of Queen’s Hospital was changed to the Queen’s Medical Center. In 1985, the Queen’s Health Systems with a Board of Trustees was established as the parent company of Queen’s Medical Center along with Molokai General Hospital, North Hawai‘i Community Hospital, Queen Emma Land Company, Queen’s Development Corporation, and Queen’s Insurance Exchange. Under Queen’s Health Systems there are four hospitals—The Queen’s Medical Center, The Queen’s Medical Center – West O‘ahu, Molokai General Hospital, and North Hawai‘i Community Hospital—and seven health care centers in Hawai‘i Kai, Hilo, two in Honolulu, Kapolei, Kaua‘i and Kona. I will refer to the corporation by its original name, the Queen’s Hospital.

Hawaiian subjects of aboriginal blood, both pure and part, are protected persons whose rights during the U.S. occupation are protected under the Geneva Convention. Council member Ruggles sees that it is also her duty as a whistle blower and agent for the United States to ensure that their rights are respected and enforced. According to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, “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.” The ‘lack of access to health care’ is what troubles Council member Ruggles knowing that the Queen’s Hospital was specifically established, under Hawaiian Kingdom law, to provide for their health care, free of charge.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross Commentaries, Article 47 of the Geneva Convention means that “changes made in the internal organization of the State must not lead to protected persons being deprived of the rights and safeguards provided them. Consequently it must be possible for the Convention to be applied to them in its entirety, even if the Occupying Power has introduced changes in the institutions or government of the occupied territory.” Furthermore, under the provisions of Article 50 of the GCIV regarding preferential measures for children’s medical care, in this case with the Queen’s Hospital, the occupying State “who occupied the whole or part of a territory where such measures are in force, cannot on any pretext abrogate them or place obstacles in the way of their application. This rule applies not only to preferential measures prescribed in the Convention but to any other measures of the same nature taken by the occupied State.”

Council member Ruggles stated that the changes to the charter since 1909 violate the Hague and Geneva Conventions. In light of these violations, she called upon the Chief Executive Office of the Queen’s Health System, Mr. Art Ushijima, and the “Board of Trustees to comply with the 1859 Charter and to admit aboriginal Hawaiians, as that term was understood under Kingdom law, for medical care free of charge. Failure to do so [would] appear to constitute to constitute war crimes under Article 47 and 50 of the [Geneva Convention, IV].”

Council member Ruggles alerted Mr. Ushijima to the fact that there “seems to be a direct nexus of deaths of aboriginal Hawaiians as ‘the single racial group with the highest health risk in the State of Hawai‘i [that] stems from…late or lack of access to health care’ to the crime of genocide as defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Genocide Convention was also ratified by the United States Senate, and, like the Hague and Geneva Conventions, are a part of United States federal law.

#ProtectedPersonsHawaii
#WarCrimesHawaii

Queen’s Hospital First Hawaiian Health Institution to Fall Victim to the Unlawful Occupation

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

The article below was printed on page 14 of The Pacific Commercial Advertiser on July 31, 1901 in Honolulu. It is a window into a time of colliding legal systems and the Queen’s Hospital would soon become the first Hawaiian health institution to fall victim to the unlawful imposition of American laws. Queen’s Hospital was established as the national hospital for the Hawaiian Kingdom and that health care services for Hawaiian subjects of aboriginal blood was at no charge. The Hawaiian head of state would serve as the ex officio President of the Board together with twenty trustees, ten of whom were from the Hawaiian government.

Since the hospital’s establishment in 1859 the legislature of the Hawaiian Kingdom subsidized the hospital along with monies from the Queen Emma Trust. With the unlawful imposition of the 1900 Organic Act that formed the Territory of Hawai‘i, American law did not allow public monies to be used for the benefit of a particular race. 1909 was the last year Queen’s Hospital received public funding and it was also the same year that the charter was unlawfully amended to replace the Hawaiian head of state with an elected president from the private sector and reduced the number of trustees from twenty to seven, which did not include government officers.

These changes to a Hawaiian quasi-public institution is a direct violation of the laws of occupation, whereby the United States was and continues to be obligated to administer the laws of the occupied State—the Hawaiian Kingdom. This requirement comes under Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Convention, IV, and Article 64 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV.

Article 55 of the Hague Convention provides, “The occupying State shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the [occupied] State, and situated in the occupied country. It must safeguard the capital of these properties, and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct.” The term “usufruct” is to administer the property or institution of another without impairing or damaging it.

Despite these unlawful changes, aboriginal Hawaiian subjects, whether pure or part, are to receive health care at Queen’s Hospital free of charge. This did not change, but through denationalization there was an attempt to erase. Aboriginal Hawaiian subjects are protected persons as defined under international law, and as such, the prevention of health care by Queen’s Hospital constitutes war crimes.

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MAY LOSE ITS MONEY

Queen’s Hospital Appropriation Peculiar.

PROVISION AS TO TREATMENT

Collision Between the Charter and the Bill Making the Grant for Period.

The Board of Health has a very delicate question to consider at its meeting this afternoon—one which places the Queen’s Hospital in a very queer situation.

The Legislature at its last session made an appropriation for the Queen’s Hospital of $40,000, to be used in the next biennial period. This was in line with the previous policy of the Government in making appropriation for the hospital, similar appropriations being made at the same time to other like institutions. There was, however, one very peculiar incident in connection with the appropriation made for the Queen’s Hospital. In the past the sum of $20,000 had always been given to the hospital for the biennial period, and Governor Dole recommended that the Legislature make the usual appropriation. Instead that body appropriated just double the amount asked, or $40,000.

Attached to the bill, however, was a rider providing that no distinction should be made as to race in the care of patients at the hospital. The appropriation was also placed in the hands of the Board of Health for proper payment and the Board now finds itself in a rather peculiar predicament.

The Queen’s Hospital was founded in 1859 by their Majesties Kamehameha IV and his consort Emma Kaleleonalani. The hospital is organized as a corporation and by the terms of its charter the board of trustees is composed ten members elected by the society and ten members nominated by the Government, of which the President of the Republic (now Governor of the Territory) shall be the presiding officer. The charter also provides for the “establishing and putting in operation a permanent hospital in Honolulu, with a dispensary and all necessary furniture and appurtenances for the reception, accommodation and treatment of indigent sick and disabled Hawaiians, as well as such foreigners and other who may choose to avail themselves of the same.”

Under this construction all native Hawaiians have been cared for without charge, while for others a charge has been made of from $1 to $3 per day. The bill making the appropriation for the hospital by the Government provides that no distinction shall be made as to race; and the Queen’s Hospital trustees are evidently up against a serious proposition.

Under the provisions of the Organic Act the Legislature has no power to give a subsidy to any institution and, under the construction likely to be placed by the Board of Health of the intentions of the Legislature, the Queen’s Hospital must be placed under the control of the Government before it may receive the appropriation of $40,000.

“I can see no way out of the difficulty at present,” said Secretary [George W.] Smith of the board of trustees for the Queen’s Hospital when his attention was called to the matter yesterday afternoon. “The hospital has been receiving regular stipulated amounts from the Government, generally $20,000 for each biennial period. This year when the Governor asked for a statement of the condition of the hospital’s finances it was handed to him, and he recommended that the Legislature make the usual allowance. I do not know they gave us $40,000 instead of the usual amount. There was a rider placed on the bill, however, to the effect that no distinction should be made as to race. The appropriation was also placed in the hands of the Board of Health. Formerly it was the custom for this money to be placed into the hands of the Minister of Finance and by him paid over quarterly directly to our treasurer. Why the change was made at this time I do not understand.”

“I do not see myself how the hospital could be placed in the hands of the Government, even if we wished to do so. The Government now has ten members upon the Board and also the presiding officer. Under our charter we are compelled to treat native Hawaiians free of charge, and I do not see how it can be changed. Then again we have in our hands $36,000 in trust funds which cannot very well be given over to the Government except in violation of the terms of the trust. Taken all around it is a very delicate question, and it is to be hoped that it may be settled without the loss of appropriation to the hospital. The hospital now treats free all soldiers and sailors and also the members of the police force.”

The matter will be discussed at this afternoon’s meeting of the Board of Health, though it is hardly likely that the matter can be definitely settled at this time. A joint meeting of the Board of Health and the trustees of the Queen’s Hospital will probably be held, at which the matter will be talked over before final action is taken.

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#ProtectedPersonsHawaii
#WarCrimesHawaii

UPDATE Emergency Petition for Writ of Mandamus – U.S. Attorney Will Seek 30 day Extension

Posted on September 2, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

On August 29, 2018, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Rhonda L. Campbell sent a communication to Dr. David Keanu Sai, Chairman of the Council of Regency and Petitioner for an extension to respond to the Emergency Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Sir: I will be requesting a 30-day extension of time, to and through, October 10, 2018, to Answer or otherwise respond to your complaint. Please inform me of your position. Thank you.”

Dr. Sai responded later that day:

“Ma’am: Notwithstanding the emergency nature of the petition for writ of mandamus, I am agreeable to your request.”

Hawai‘i County Corporation Counsel Joe Kamelamela on the Hot Seat by Council Member Jennifer Ruggles

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

COUNCIL MEMBER JEN RUGGLES SAYS CORPORATION COUNSEL OPINION INADEQUATE ON CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR WAR CRIMES

Says Opinion Does not Conform to the Rules of Professional Conduct and Legal Standards

Hilo, HI- Council member Jen Ruggles released a letter today in response to Corporation Counsel Joe Kamelamela’s opinion regarding possible criminal liability for war crimes. In a letter on Corporation Counsel letterhead dated August 22, 2018, Kamelamela’s answer consisted of two sentences stating, “we opine that you will not incur criminal liability under state, federal and international law. See Article VI, Constitution of the United States of America (international law cannot violate federal law).”

Council member Ruggles, stated that she had been advised by her attorney that Kamelamela’s answer was inconsistent with Rule 1.1 of the Hawai‘i Rules of Professional Conduct that applies to all licensed attorneys including government lawyers such as Corporation Counsel. The rule requires, “Competent handling of a particular matter [which] includes inquiry into and analysis of the factual and legal elements of the problem, and use of methods and procedures meeting the standards of competent practitioners.”

Last week Ruggles had sent a letter to Mr. Kamelamela requesting he assure her that she was not incurring criminal liability under international humanitarian law and United States Federal law as a Council member for legislating and being complicit in the collection of taxes, foreclosures, and criminal prosecutions that appeared to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution and international humanitarian law.

Ruggles said she had retained legal counsel, Stephen Laudig, to be sure that her concerns received proper consideration. She said her attorney had advised her to refrain from legislating until Mr. Kamelamela has assured her she was not incurring criminal liability for the alleged war crime of enacting American law within the occupied territory of the Hawaiian Kingdom. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, the legal definition of “assure” is to “make certain and put beyond all doubt.”

Ruggles said Laudig advised her that Kamelamela’s answer was a conclusory statement unsupported by any facts and analysis and not a legal opinion. Therefore, Laudig stated that Kamelamela’s “letter provides no analysis, or argument making it something other than a legal opinion in the sense that it marshals no facts or law to reach a reasoned position.”

Laudig also pointed out to Kamelamela that his statement that “international law cannot violate federal law”, was not a true statement. He went on to further state that Kamelamela’s statement was a similar conclusion made by U.S. Department of Justice Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo in his now infamous legal opinion regarding Application of Treaties and Laws to al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees dated January 9, 2002. Like Council member Ruggles who is concerned of incurring criminal liability, the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense was also concerned about the incurring of criminal liability under international treaties and federal laws on the treatment of individuals detained by the U.S. Armed Forces during the conflict in Afghanistan. Yoo’s conclusion in his legal opinion stated “that neither the federal War Crimes Act [18 U.S.C. §2441] nor the Geneva Conventions would apply.”

Laudig states to Kamelamela that “Yoo’s legal opinion was found to be flawed and allegations of war crimes against Yoo and those relying on his opinion, arose in Germany in 2006, Spain in 2009, and Russia in 2013. After the United States Senate Intelligence Committee Report on CIA torture was released in December 2014, Erwin Chemerinsky, who at the time was Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, called for the prosecution of Yoo for his role in authoring, as well as co-authoring, what came to be known as the Torture Memos.”

Laudig cautioned Kamelamela as to how he should “answer Council member Ruggles’ inquiries, because she is not the only member of the County Council that could be affected by your legal opinion.”

Council member Ruggles’ attorney reminded Kamelamela that the Office of the Corporation Counsel is tasked with giving legal counsel on matters related to the official powers and duties of Council members. He reminded Kamelamela that her request was made in her official capacity seeking legal advice in order to assure her that she was not incurring criminal liability under international humanitarian law and United States Federal law as a Council member for:

Participating in legislation of the Hawai‘i County Council that would appear to be in violation of Article 43 of the Hague Regulations and Article 64 of the Geneva Convention where the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom must be administered and not the laws of the United States;
Being complicit in the collection of taxes from protected persons that stem from legislation enacted by the Hawai‘i County Council, which would appear to be in violation of Article 28 and 47 of the Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the Geneva Convention where pillaging is prohibited;
Being complicit in the foreclosures of properties of protected persons for delinquent property taxes that stem from legislation enacted by the Hawai‘i County Council, which would appear to be in violation of Article 28 and 47 of the Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the Geneva Convention where pillaging is prohibited, as well as in violation of Article 46 of the Hague Regulations and Articles 50 and 53 of the Geneva Convention where private property cannot be confiscated; and
Being complicit in the criminal prosecution of protected persons for committing misdemeanors or felonies that stem from legislation enacted by the Hawai‘i County Council, which would appear to be in violation of 147 of the Geneva Convention where protected persons are prohibited from being unlawfully confined, and cannot be denied a fair and regular trial by a tribunal with competent jurisdiction.

Council member Ruggles stated that Corporation Counsel’s letter did not comply with her request for a legal opinion. Her attorney compared the quality of Kamelamela’s letter of the 22^nd to a previous 5 page much more thorough opinion on a much simpler matter dated November 3, 2017 involving a grant she wanted to provide for a community center titled Orchidland Neighbors CRF Grant Follow-up that included sections on background, facts, analysis, and a conclusion. She says for this grant Kamelamela had provided a legal opinion that appeared to have met the standard of professional conduct and that she was anticipating a response of similar quality. She also referred to a 12-page opinion by Kamelamela’s predecessor, Lincoln Ashida, which also included facts, analysis, and a conclusion to then Council member Bob Jacobson dated May 26, 2004, regarding Article III, Section 3-2, Hawai‘i County Charter WRK. NO. 03-3641

During last week’s Council Committee meetings on August 21, 2018, Kamelamela admitted that he had not yet read her 9-page letter, and Ruggles says that she was taken aback by Kamelamela’s uninformed comments made, which insinuated she was involved with Native Hawaiian sovereignty groups and that is what had motivated her inquiry.

She stated Kamelamela’s comments “struck me as improper and not what I would expect from a professional tasked with the responsibilities of his office nor from an attorney speaking to an elected official in public.”

She went on to state:

“I represent my constituents from District 5, and swore to support and defend the U.S. Constitution. If Kamelamela had read the letter before voicing his opinion on my legitimate request, he would have clearly known that the native Hawaiian sovereignty movement is unrelated to the issue of potential liability for war crimes. The memorandum opinion of Dr. deZayas, was not from a sovereignty group, but from a United Nations Independent Expert. His use of the terms ‘plundering’, ‘enabling’, and ‘colluding’ are precise legal terms associated with criminal activity for violating the Hague and Geneva Conventions. I do not take this memorandum lightly, nor should he.”

In Laudig’s response to Kamelamela, he states, “This letter is in the nature of a follow up reminder and opportunity to provide what could be described as a ‘proper’ legal opinion which would include…meeting the standards of competent practitioners’ as the Hawai‘i Rules of Professional Conduct outlines.”

Ruggles says, “until Corporation Counsel provides her with a proper legal opinion responding to the statement of facts, consistent with the Hawaii Rules of Professional Conduct, and the legal definition of assurance that I am not incurring criminal liability under U.S. law and international law, which includes the 1907 Hague Regulations and the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, I painfully regret I have been advised by my attorney that I must continue to refrain from legislating.”

Ruggles added, “I will be holding a townhall meeting on this issue shortly, and as always, welcome our constituents’ concerns, questions, and ideas on any issue. I am available to them and will continue to work hard in providing transparency and accountability in government.”

Click to download:

Council member Ruggles’ Letter to Corporation Counsel Joe Kamelamela, August 21, 2018

Corporation Counsel Joe Kamelamela’s Letter to Council Member Ruggles’ Letter, August 22, 2018

Council member Ruggles’ Response Letter to Corporation Counsel Joe Kamelamela, August 28, 2018

Breaking Ranks: Legislator in the State of Hawai‘i Concerned About War Crimes

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

COUNCIL MEMBER JEN RUGGLES RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT ALLEGED WAR CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST PROTECTED PERSONS

Concerned She May Be Incurring Criminal Liability and Requests Corporation Counsel Opinion regarding incurring Criminal Liability

Hilo, HI- Council member Jen Ruggles released a statement today stating she had recently come to understand that she may be in violation of her oath of office to uphold the United States constitution and may be incurring criminal liability for war crimes under both U.S. federal law and international law. She has retained Stephen Laudig as legal counsel in order to communicate with the County Corporation Counsel on this matter.

Click here to download the letter to Joe Kamelamela, Hawai‘i County Corporation Counsel.

Through her attorney, Council member Ruggles has formally requested the Office of Corporation Counsel to assure her that she is not incurring criminal liability under international humanitarian law and United States Federal law as a Council member for:

Participating in legislation of the Hawai‘i County Council that would appear to be in violation of Article 43 of the Hague Regulations and Article 64 of the Geneva Convention where the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom must be administered and not the laws of the United States;
Being complicit in the collection of taxes from protected persons that stem from legislation enacted by the Hawai‘i County Council, which would appear to be in violation of Article 28 and 47 of the Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the Geneva Convention where pillaging is prohibited;
Being complicit in the foreclosures of properties of protected persons for delinquent property taxes that stem from legislation enacted by the Hawai‘i County Council, which would appear to be in violation of Article 28 and 47 of the Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the Geneva Convention where pillaging is prohibited, as well as in violation of Article 46 of the Hague Regulations and Articles 50 and 53 of the Geneva Convention where private property cannot be confiscated; and
Being complicit in the criminal prosecution of protected persons for committing misdemeanors or felonies that stem from legislation enacted by the Hawai‘i County Council, which would appear to be in violation of 147 of the Geneva Convention where protected persons are prohibited from being unlawfully confined, and cannot be denied a fair and regular trial by a tribunal with competent jurisdiction.

Until Corporation Counsel is able to assure, under applicable laws, that Council member Ruggles is not incurring criminal liability under international humanitarian law and U.S. law, she says she will be refraining from participating in the proposing and enacting of legislation for the Hawai‘i County Council. She will continue to serve her constituents as a Council member on all other matters that do not conflict with the topics of her request to the Corporation Counsel. As soon as Corporation Counsel can assure her that no criminal liability is being incurred, she will return to legislate.

“I took an oath where I swore to support and defend the U.S. Constitution, and the constitution states that treaties are the supreme law of the land. My current understanding is that the Hague and Geneva Conventions are international treaties ratified by the United States,” Ruggles said, “and until our county attorney assures me I am not violating my oath of office, and not incurring criminal liability, I must refrain from enacting any further legislation. I am eagerly awaiting his response. In the meanwhile my constituents can be assured that I am still available to them, will continue to focus on our district and stand up for our disadvantaged populations.”

Her attorney, Stephen Laudig, states that Ruggles had been made aware of the history of the United States’ occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom when she received an email from the Hawaiian Kingdom acting Council of Regency informing her, and all other Hawaii legislators, of several legal actions substantiating the continued existence of the Hawaiian Kingdom as a sovereign and independent State. Among the legal actions were the Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom proceedings held under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, Netherlands; the United Nations Independent Expert, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dr. Alfred deZayas’ memorandum to the members of the judiciary of the State of Hawai‘i dated February 25, 2018; and the more recent lawsuit of David Keanu Sai, as Chairman of the Council of Regency v. Donald Trump, as President of the United States that was filed with United States District Court for the District of Columbia on June 15, 2018 addressing the failure of the United States to administer the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom under Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations and Article 64 of the 1949 Geneva Convention.

Ruggles says she then sought to verify the claims made by the chair of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Acting Council of Regency, Dr. Keanu Sai, and has found his research to be thorough and comprehensive as to the explanation of legal facts describing the events leading up to and during the commencement of the illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom. She also became aware that in seven different criminal and civil cases, Dr. Sai was acknowledged and admitted as an expert witness on the subject of the continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent State and international laws. Three of those cases were held on Hawai‘i Island in the Third Circuit.

The turning point that got Ruggles to take action was the United Nations Independent Expert’s memorandum to State of Hawai‘i officials and the lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. In his memorandum, the Independent Expert stated, “I have come to understand that the lawful political status of the Hawaiian Islands is that of a sovereign nation-state in continuity; but a nation-state that is under a strange form of occupation by the United States resulting from an illegal military occupation and a fraudulent annexation.” He goes on to state that “As such, international laws (the Hague and Geneva Conventions) require that governance and legal matters within the occupied territory of the Hawaiian Islands must be administered by the application of the laws of the occupied state (in this case, the Hawaiian Kingdom), not the domestic laws of the occupier (the United States).”

Ruggles’ says she views the Independent Expert’s statements as authoritative under international law especially from the fact that when Dr. deZayas was elected by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2012, the United States was a member and did not dispute his appointment.

Consequently, council member Ruggles says she began to question her own position as an elected official who swore to support and defend the constitution of the United States as to whether or not she is incurring criminal liability for enacting United States law as a legislator, which appears to be in conflict with Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations and Article 64 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention which mandates the occupying State (United States) to administer the laws of the occupied State (Hawaiian Kingdom).

Ruggles says, “I want it to be clear that this action, on my part should not be construed as a publicity stunt but is rather acting upon the advice of counsel given the awareness she has regarding alleged war crimes, and the awareness other State of Hawai‘i officials had and remained silent.” Ruggles says she “is a firm believer in the rule of law and not the politics of power.”

State of Hawai‘i v. Kaulia – A Recipe for War Crimes?

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

When the United States assumed control of its installed puppet regime under the new heading of Territory of Hawai‘i in 1900, and later the State of Hawai‘i in 1959, it surpassed “its limits under international law through extraterritorial prescriptions emanating from its national institutions: the legislature, government, and courts (Eyal Benvenisti, The International Law of Occupation (1993), p. 19).” The legislation of every state, including the United States of America and its Congress, are not sources of international law.

In The Lotus case, (1927 PCIJ Series A, No. 10, p. 18), the Permanent Court of International Justice stated that “Now the first and foremost restriction imposed by international law upon a State is that—failing the existence of a permissive rule to the contrary—it may not exercise its power in any form in the territory of another State.” According to Judge Crawford, derogation of this principle will not be presumed (James Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law (2^nd ed., 2006), p. 41).

Since Congressional legislation has no extraterritorial effect, it cannot unilaterally establish governments in the territory of a foreign state. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, “[n]either the Constitution nor the laws passed in pursuance of it have any force in foreign territory unless in respect of our own citizens, and operations of the nation in such territory must be governed by treaties, international understandings and compacts, and the principles of international law (United States v. Curtiss Wright Export Corp., 299 U.S. 304, 318 (1936)).”

The U.S. Supreme Court also concluded that “[t]he laws of no nation can justly extend beyond its own territories except so far as regards its own citizens. They can have no force to control the sovereignty or rights of any other nation within its own jurisdiction (The Apollon, 22 U.S. 362, 370 (1824)).” Therefore, the State of Hawai‘i cannot claim to be a government as its only claim to authority derives from Congressional legislation that has no extraterritorial effect. As such, international law defines the State of Hawai‘i as an organized armed group.

According to Henckaerts and Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol. I (2009), p. 14, “organized armed groups … are under a command responsible to that party for the conduct of its subordinates.” They explain that “this definition of armed forces covers all persons who fight on behalf of a party to a conflict and who subordinate themselves to its command.” Article 1 of the 1907 Hague Convention, IV, states:

“The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions: (1) To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; (2) To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance; (3) To carry arms openly; and (4) To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.”

In 2013, State of Hawai‘i v. Kaulia, 128 Hawai‘i 479, 486 (2013), the State of Hawai‘i Supreme Court responded to a defendant who “contends that the courts of the State of Hawai‘i lacked subject matter jurisdiction over his criminal prosecution because the defense proved the existence of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the illegitimacy of the State of Hawai‘i government, with “whatever may be said regarding the lawfulness” of its origins, “the State of Hawai‘i … is now, a lawful government.” This is a bold statement to be made by the Supreme Court without providing any evidence of its lawfulness other than declaring its lawfulness.

From a standpoint of evidence, the jurisdiction of the State of Hawai‘i court stems from its lawfulness. This lawfulness, however, is allowed to be challenged by a defendant under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Hawai‘i Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides for a defendant to file a motion to dismiss based upon subject matter jurisdiction. In Nishitani v. Baker, 82 Haw. 281, 289 (1996), the State of Hawai‘i Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) stated,

“that although the governments of the State of Hawaii and the United States had recently acknowledged the illegality of the overthrow of the Kingdom, neither recognizes that the Kingdom exists at the present time (citations omitted). Because the defendant had ‘presented no factual (or legal) basis for concluding that the Kingdom exists as a state in accordance recognized attributes of a state’s sovereign nature,’ we determined that the defendant had failed to meet his burden under HRS ß 701-115(2) (1993) of proving his defense of lack of jurisdiction. … [And] where immunity claims are raised as a defense to jurisdiction, the burden is on the defendant to establish his immunity status.”

The citation by the ICA of HRS ß 701-115(2) states, “No defense may be considered by the trier of fact unless evidence of the specified fact or facts has been presented.” In other words, it is incumbent on the defendant to present the evidence if he is challenging the jurisdiction of the court. In Kaulia, there was no evidentiary hearing by the trial court because the trial court denied Kaulia his right to present ‘specified fact or facts” that conclude “the Kingdom exists as a state in accordance recognized attributes of a state’s sovereign nature.”

Kaulia’s attorney sought to have Dr. Keanu Sai serve as an expert witness. Dr. Sai had been admitted in both criminal and civil proceedings as an expert witness on the continued existence of the Hawaiian Kingdom as a State under international law.

“[O]n March 15, 2010, Kaulia filed a Motion to Dismiss Complaint (Motion to Dismiss) challenging the court’s jurisdiction over the case based on the existence of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i (Kingdom). At the hearing on the Motion to Dismiss, the court confirmed that in off-the-record conferences it had denied Kaulia’s request for an evidentiary hearing to call witnesses, including one Dr. Keanu Sai, to establish the existence of the Kingdom. The court then denied Kaulia’s Motion to Dismiss.” State of Hawai‘i v. Kaulia,128 Haw. 479, 482 (2013).

On appeal, the ICA held that “[t]he Circuit Court did not err in precluding Kaulia from calling a witness to present evidence concerning the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in support of his motion to dismiss case for lack of jurisdiction (State of Hawai‘i v. Kaulia, 127 Haw. 414 (2012),” despite the ICA’s previous decision in State of Hawai‘i v. Lorenzo, 77 Haw. 219, 221 (1994), that “it was incumbent on Defendant to present evidence supporting his claim…that the Kingdom exists as a state in accordance with recognized attributes of a state’s sovereign nature.” According to The American Heritage Dictionary (2^nd ed., 1982), the term ‘incumbent’ is defined as “[i]mposed as an obligation or duty; obligatory.” Legally, the phrase ‘incumbent on’ means “mandatory, obligatory, requisite (William C. Burton, Legal Thesaurus 754 (2^nd ed., 1992)).”

Like the ICA, the Supreme Court in blatant disregard of the ICA cases of Lorenzo and Baker, “rejected Kaulia’s argument that the circuit court erred in precluding Kaulia from calling a witness to present evidence concerning the existence of the Kingdom in support of his Motion to Dismiss (State of Hawai‘i v. Kaulia, 128 Haw. 479, 487 (2013)).”

The irony of this whole matter is that the Supreme Court cited Lorenzo and Baker as its basis to deny Kaulia’s argument, which is that “it was incumbent on Defendant to present evidence supporting his claim…that the Kingdom exists as a state.” The decisions by the Circuit Court, ICA and Supreme Court in Kaulia clearly run counter to HRS ß 701-115(2). According to this flawed logic, so long as the trier of fact (judge) can prevent the defense from presenting “evidence of the specified fact or facts” it does not need to consider it. Prosecutors and plaintiff’s attorneys now cite State of Hawai‘i v. Kaulia as the precedent case to deny defendants’ motions to dismiss. This is a feeble attempt to close the door that they opened in 1994 in State of Hawai‘i v. Lorenzo.

The State of Hawai‘i courts have established an echo chamber to shield themselves from the precedence set by the courts themselves in Lorenzo and Baker. The term echo chamber is “widely used in today’s lexicon, that describes a situation where certain ideas, beliefs or data points are reinforced through repetition of a closed system that does not allow for the free movement of alternative or competing ideas or concepts.” As Mohajer, The Little Book of Stupidity: How We Lie to Ourselves and Don’t Believe Others 20, 7 (2015), wrote:

“The confirmation bias is so fundamental to [our] development and [our] reality that you might not even realize it is happening. We look for evidence that supports our beliefs and opinions about the world but excludes those that run contrary to our own… In an attempt to simplify the world and make it conform to our expectations, we have been blessed with the gift of cognitive biases.”

While this game of hide and seek is being played out by the State of Hawai‘i judiciary, these actions constitute violations of the 1907 Hague and the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which have been codified by the Congress under 18 U.S.C. §2441—War crimes.

The United Nations Independent Expert, Dr. Alfred M. deZayas notified the State of Hawai‘i judiciary to not “plunder…enable or collude.” Plunder is another word for the war crime of pillaging, which is prohibited under Article 28 of the 1907 Hague Convention, IV, 18 U.S.C. §2441(c)(2). To deny a person of a fair and regular trial is also a war crime under Article 147 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, 18 U.S.C. §2441(c)(2). The terms enable and collude are terms associated with conspiring to commit war crimes.

Big Island Video News (BIVN): Hawaiian Kingdom Files Lawsuit Against President Trump

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

HAWAII ISLAND – Keanu Sai has filed a petition for an emergency writ of mandamus with U.S. Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.

(BIVN) – David Keanu Sai, Ph.D., acting as Chairman of the acting Council of Regency for the Hawaiian Kingdom, has filed a lawsuit against United States President Donald Trump regarding the prolonged American occupation of the Hawaiian Islands.

Sai, who will be speaking at a La Ho‘iho‘i Ea event in Kalapana this weekend, filed the lawsuit on June 25 in U.S. Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.

The suit comes on the heels of the February 25 memorandum written by Dr. Alfred M. deZayas – the United Nations Independent Expert under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – to members of the judiciary of the State of Hawai‘i advising the courts “should not lend themselves to a flagrant violation of the rights of the land title holders” and “must not enable or collude in the wrongful taking of private lands”, based on the understanding that Hawaii is a “sovereign nation-state in continuity” which is “under a strange form of occupation by the United States resulting from an illegal military occupation and fradulent annexation.”

The conclusion of Dr. deZayas is nothing new to followers of Sai’s work. He has been working at home and abroad to educate the world about the Hawai‘ian Kingdom. Last year, shortly after President Donald Trump took office, we interviewed Sai about a series of topics, including alleged “war crimes” as it relates to international law.

Hawaiian Kingdom Files Lawsuit Against President Trump in Washington, D.C.

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release – 17 July 2018

Petition for an Emergency Writ of Mandamus filed with U.S. Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., against President Trump regarding the prolonged American occupation of the Hawaiian Islands

[David Keanu Sai vs. Donald John Trump et. al, Case: 1:18-cv-01500]

HONOLULU, 17 July 2018 — On Monday morning, 25 June 2018, the Chairman of the acting Council of Regency for the Hawaiian Kingdom, H.E. David Keanu Sai, Ph.D., filed with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia a Petition for an Emergency Writ of Mandamus against President Donald John Trump. This Petition concerns the illegal and prolonged occupation of the Hawaiian Islands and the failure of the United States to administer the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom as mandated under Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Convention, IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (36 Stat. 2199) and under Article 64 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (6 U.S.T. 3516). The United States has ratified both treaties. The case has been assigned to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan under civil case no. 1:18-cv-01500.

Under American rules of civil procedure, a petition for writ of mandamus is an administrative remedy that seeks to compel an officer or employee of the United States or any of its agencies to fulfill their official duties. It is not a complaint alleging certain facts to be true. The Hague and Geneva Conventions obligates the United States, as an occupying State, to administer the laws of the occupied State. There is no discretion on this duty to administer Hawaiian Kingdom law. This duty is mandated under international humanitarian law.

Furthermore, according to the U.S. Constitution, treaties, such as the Hague and Geneva Conventions, are the supreme law of the land, and the United States is bound by them just as they are bound by the U.S. Constitution or any of the laws enacted by the Congress. Consequently, the failure of the United States to administer Hawaiian Kingdom laws has created a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable proportions where war crimes have and continue to be committed with impunity. War crimes have no statutes of limitation.

The Petition mentions Iraq’s violation of international humanitarian law when it invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990, and, like the United States, did not administer Kuwaiti law as mandated by the Hague and Geneva Conventions. This led to the formation of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) by the United Nations Security Council under resolution 687 (1991). The mandate of the UNCC was to process claims and pay compensation for losses or damages incurred as a direct result of Iraq’s unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait. In total, the UNCC awarded $52.4 billion dollars for an unlawful occupation that lasted seven months. If this formula is applied to the unlawful invasion and occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom since 16 January 1893 that compensation amount would be staggering.

This law suit comes on the heels of a memorandum, dated 25 February 2018, by the United Nations Independent Expert, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the members of the judiciary of the State of Hawai‘i. The memo’s author, Dr. Alfred deZayas, who served as the Independent Expert until he retired on 30 April 2018, stated:

“As a professor of international law, the former Secretary of the UN Human Rights Committee, co-author of book, The United Nations Human Rights Committee Case Law 1977-2008, and currently serving as the UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, I have come to understand that the lawful political status of the Hawaiian Islands is that of a sovereign nation-state in continuity; but a nation-state that is under a strange form of occupation by the United States resulting from an illegal military occupation and a fraudulent annexation. As such, international laws (the Hague and Geneva Conventions) require that governance and legal matters within the occupied of the Hawaiian Islands must be administered by the application of the laws of the occupied state (in this case, the Hawaiian Kingdom), not the domestic laws of the occupier (the United States).”

In the Petition, the Hawaiian Kingdom begins with a preliminary statement concerning international proceedings held at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, Netherlands.

“When the South China Sea Tribunal cited in its award on jurisdiction the Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom case held at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”), that should have garnered international attention, especially after the PCA acknowledged the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent state and not the fiftieth State of the United States of America. The Larsen case was a dispute between a Hawaiian national and his government, who he claimed was negligent for allowing the unlawful imposition of American laws over Hawaiian territory that led to the alleged war crimes of unfair trial, unlawful confinement and pillaging.”

Chairman Sai served as Agent for the Hawaiian government in Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom, PCA Case no. 1999-01. Before forming the ad hoc tribunal, the PCA acknowledged the Hawaiian Kingdom’s continued existence as an independent State and that the Hawaiian Kingdom would access the jurisdiction of the PCA as a non-Contracting Power pursuant to Article 47 of the 1907 Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes.

Chairman Sai stated, “the United States, as an occupier, is mandated to administer Hawaiian Kingdom law over Hawaiian territory and not its own, until they withdraw. This is not a mere descriptive assumption by the occupying State, but rather it is the law of occupation. And this was precisely what the Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom arbitration was founded on—the unlawful imposition of American laws.” In 2001, Bederman and Hilbert reported in the American Journal of International Law:

“At the center of the PCA proceedings was…that the Hawaiian Kingdom continues to exist and that the Hawaiian Council of Regency (representing the Hawaiian Kingdom) is legally responsible under international law for the protection of Hawaiian subjects, including the claimant. In other words, the Hawaiian Kingdom was legally obligated to protect Larsen from the United States’ “unlawful imposition [over him] of [its] municipal laws” through its political subdivision, the State of Hawaii. As a result of this responsibility, Larsen submitted, the Hawaiian Council of Regency should be liable for any international law violations that the United States had committed against him.”^[1]

The Tribunal was comprised of three renowned international jurists, namely, Judge James Crawford, SC, current member of the International Court of Justice, Judge Christopher Greenwood, QC, former member of the International Court of Justice, and Dr. Gavan Griffith, former Australian Solicitor General.

Larsen sought to have the Tribunal adjudge that the United States had violated his rights. He then sought the Tribunal to adjudge that the Hawaiian government was liable for those violations. Although the United States was formally invited, by the Hawaiian government, to join in the arbitration on 3 March 2000, it chose not to. The United States absence thus raised the indispensable third-party rule for Larsen to overcome. In its award (para. 7.4), however, the Tribunal acknowledged the Hawaiian Kingdom’s lawful political status since the nineteenth century.

“[I]n the nineteenth century the Hawaiian Kingdom existed as an independent State recognized as such by the United States of America, the United Kingdom and various other States, including by exchanges of diplomatic or consular representatives and the conclusion of treaties.”

After returning from oral hearings held at The Hague in December of 2000, the Council of Regency adopted a policy of education and exposure of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s lawful political status as an independent State. The Council made this decision to address the American policy of denationalization—Americanization that was implemented throughout the schools in the islands since 1906. Denationalization is a war crime. Within three generations, Americanization had effectively obliterated the national consciousness of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the minds of Hawai‘i’s people. This denationalization has resulted in a common misunderstanding that since President Barrack Obama was born in Hawai‘i, he was born within the United States. He was not. He was born in the Hawaiian Kingdom to an American mother and a Kenyan father. As such, he was born an American citizen by parentage—jus sanguinis, but not as a natural born citizen—jus soli.

It would take 18 years of education and exposure to prompt the Hawaiian government to file the Petition for Emergency Writ of Mandamus. The Petition was filed with the Federal Court in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §1331 (federal question jurisdiction), 28 U.S.C. §1651(a) (writ of mandamus), and 5 U.S.C. §702 (waiver of sovereign immunity). The Petition also names as nominal respondents twenty-eight countries that had diplomatic relations with the Hawaiian Kingdom to include treaties, and five international agencies. All of the respondents received a copy of the filed Petition, through the United States Postal Service, with a cover letter noting that a summons would be forthcoming.

They include the United States, the Indo-Pacific Command, the State of Hawai‘i, Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Also included was the United Nations Secretary General, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, the President of the United Nations Security Council, the President of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and the Chairman of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s Administrative Council.

In his letter to the United Nations Secretary General, Chairman Sai invoked the law of State responsibility. Chairman Sai stated:

“As an internationally wrongful act, all States shall not ‘recognize as lawful a situation created by a serious breach within the meaning of Article 40, nor render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation (Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, 2001),’ Article 40 provides that a ‘breach of such an obligation is serious if it involves a gross or systemic failure by the responsible State to fulfill the obligation.’ By letter to United States President Donald John Trump dated 5 July 2018, the Hawaiian Kingdom gave notice of claim and invoked responsibility of the United States, in accordance with Article 43, for a serious breach of an obligation to comply with international humanitarian law.”

Chairman Sai then made the following request to the Secretary General:

“As a State not a member of the United Nations, but a member of the Universal Postal Union since 1882, being a specialized agency of the United Nations, I should be grateful if you would have this letter and the full text of its enclosures circulated as an official document of the General Assembly and of the Security Council.”

The United States has been in an illegal state of war against the Hawaiian Kingdom since 1893

On 9 March 1893, President Grover Cleveland, at the request of Queen Lili‘uokalani, conducted an investigation into the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government that occurred on 17 January 1893. Her Majesty notified the President that the overthrow of her government was committed by the United States diplomat assigned to the Hawaiian Kingdom, John Stevens, and by the unauthorized landing of United States armed forces.

President Cleveland appointed James Blount, former Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, as Special Commissioner. Commissioner Blount arrived in Honolulu on 31 March 1893 and initiated his investigation the following day. After sending periodical reports to Secretary of State Walter Gresham in Washington, D.C., Blount completed his final report on 17 July 1893. On 18 October 1893, Gresham submitted his report to the President. Gresham concluded:

“The Government of Hawaii surrendered its authority under a threat of war, until such time only as the Government of the United States, upon the facts being presented to it, should reinstate the constitutional sovereign… Should not the great wrong done to a feeble but independent State by an abuse of the authority of the United States be undone by restoring the legitimate government? Anything short of that will not, I respectfully submit, satisfy the demands of justice.”

The following month, on 18 December 1893, President Grover Cleveland notified the Congress of the findings and conclusions of his investigation. President Cleveland stated:

“And so it happened that on the 16th day of January, 1893, between four and five o’clock in the afternoon, a detachment of marines from the United States steamer Boston, with two pieces of artillery, landed at Honolulu. The men, upwards of 160 in all, were supplied with double cartridge belts filled with ammunition and with haversacks and canteens, and were accompanied by a hospital corps with stretchers and medical supplies. This military demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu was of itself an act of war, unless made either with the consent of the Government of Hawaii or for the bona fide purpose of protecting the imperiled lives and property of citizens of the United States. But there is no pretense of any such consent on the part of the Government of the Queen, which at the time was undisputed and was both the de facto and the de jure government. In point of fact the existing government instead of requesting the presence of an armed force protested against it.”

The President concluded:

“By an act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without authority of Congress, the Government of a feeble but friendly and confiding people has thus been overthrown. A substantial wrong has thus been done which a due regard for our national character as well as the rights of the injured people requires we should endeavor to repair.”

When President Cleveland concluded that by an act of war committed against the Hawaiian Kingdom on 16 January 1893, which led to the unlawful overthrow of the Hawaiian government the following day, he acknowledged the situation under international law transformed from a state of peace to a state of war. Only by way of a treaty of peace could a state of war be transformed back to a state of peace. To explain this transformation, Chairman Sai, as Hawaiian Ambassador-at-large, authored a memorandum titled The Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom Case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration and Why There Is An Ongoing Illegal State of War with the United States of America Since 16 January 1893 (16 October 2017). This memorandum has been translated into Farsi, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish.

On the very same day the President notified the Congress of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government, an agreement of restoration and peace was negotiated between the new U.S. diplomat assigned to the Hawaiian Kingdom, Albert Willis, and the Queen. Negotiations began on 13 November and lasted until 18 December 1893. However, due to political wrangling going on in the Congress, the President was unable to fulfill the United States’ obligation under the agreement of peace with the Queen. Five years later in 1898, the United States fraudulently annexed the Hawaiian Islands during the Spanish-American war and fortified it as a military outpost. Hawai‘i currently serves as headquarters for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

In 2013, the New York Times reported North Korea’s announcement that “all of its strategic rocket and long range artillery units ‘are assigned to strike bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii.” The Hawaiian Kingdom’s existential threat has been heightened today by the rhetoric of U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

Instead of establishing a system to administer Hawaiian Kingdom law in 1893, the United States maintained their installed insurgency, calling itself the Provisional government, who, under the protection of U.S. troops, unlawfully seized control of the Hawaiian government apparatus. In 1894, these insurgents renamed themselves as the Republic of Hawai‘i. Six years later, the U.S. Congress changed that name to the Territory of Hawai‘i. And in 1959, Congress changed that name to the State of Hawai‘i. The U.S. Congress could no more establish a government in the Hawaiian Kingdom by enacting domestic statutes, than it could establish a government in Germany or in the United Kingdom.

Since the United States’ admitted unlawful overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government in 1893, there has been no lawful government in the Hawaiian Islands until the Hawaiian Council of Regency was established in 1995. The unlawful overthrow of the Hawaiian government 125 years ago, however, did not affect the continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent State under international law. The Hawaiian Kingdom continued to remain in existence just as Iraq continued to exist despite its government being overthrown in 2003 by United States armed forces.

###

[1] David Bederman & Kurt Hilbert, “Arbitration—UNCITRAL Rules—justiciability and indispensible third parties—legal status of Hawaii,” 95 American Journal of International Law (2001) 927, at 928.

Dr. Sai to Present An Uncomfortable Truth: Hawai‘i in a State of War

Posted on June 8, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

United Nations Acknowledges the Occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

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On May 10, 2018, Mrs. Routh Bolomet, a Hawaiian-Swiss citizen, provided Dr. Keanu Sai with a remarkable document that came out of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, regarding Hawai‘i. Mrs. Bolomet told Dr. Sai that it was her hope that the document authored by Dr. Alfred M. deZayas, would help in bringing the American occupation to an end. Dr. Sai said, “To call this document ‘remarkable’ is an understatement.”

In 2006, the United Nations Human Rights Council was formed as an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations system. The Council replaced the United Nations Commission on Human Rights that was established in 1946. The Council is comprised of 47 member States of the United Nations that serve for a three year term.

On September 29, 2011, the Council passed resolution 18/6 in order to establish an Independent Expert for the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order. The Council decided to establish a new Independent Expert, with the authority to identify possible obstacles to the promotion and protection of a democratic and equitable international order, to identify best practices and to work in cooperation with States in order to foster the adoption of measures at the local, national, regional and international levels.

The President of the Council, Ambassador Laura Dupuy Lasserre of Uruguay, nominated Dr. deZayas and on March 23, 2012 he was elected by the Council as the first Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The United States served as a member State of the Council when Dr. deZayas was elected.

The Council requested the newly elected Independent Expert to present its first report to the Council at its twenty-first session in 2012. An interim report was submitted in 2012 that was followed by a full report in 2013. Yearly reports have been submitted ever since.

An Independent Expert, also known as a Special Rapporteur, is a person who examines and reports on a specific human rights issue or theme. The Independent Expert reports to both the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly. Dr. deZayas completed two three-year terms where his mandate was completed on April 30, 2018.

Of the fifteen topics of responsibility for the Independent Expert that come under its mandate, two topics resonate regarding Hawai‘i’s situation of a prolonged and illegal occupation.

The right of peoples and nations to permanent sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources; and
The right of all peoples to peace.

In order to achieve the realization of these subjects, the Independent Expert, among other tasks, will:

Identify possible obstacles to the promotion and protection of a democratic and equitable order, and to submit proposals and/or recommendations to the Human Rights Council on possible actions in that regard;
To raise awareness concerning the importance of promoting and protecting of a democratic and equitable international order; and
To work in cooperation with States in order to foster the adoption of measures at the local, national, regional and international levels aimed at the promotion and protection of a democratic and equitable international order.

Of particular note in his 2012 initial Report to the Council, Dr. deZayas stated:

“The Independent Expert will build on the studies already conducted by the Commission on Human Rights, the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the Human Rights Council and its Advisory Committee, as well as on the work of the family of special rapporteurs, General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions on the right of peoples to peace (Assembly resolution 39/11, Commission resolution 2002/71).”

The Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/71, adopted on April 25, 2002, regarding “the right of peoples to peace” affirmed “the obligation of all States to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.” It is apparent that this reference would directly apply to the United States violation of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s territorial integrity and its political independence, which brought about an illegal state of war.

In his 2013 Report to the United Nations General Assembly, Dr. deZayas was unaware of Hawai‘i’s true legal status as an independent and sovereign State that has been under an illegal and prolonged occupation. He assumed that Hawai‘i was a part of the United States and that the native population (aboriginal Hawaiians) had the status of indigenous peoples with a right to self-determination.

This misrepresentation is understandable given the fact that the United States and the State of Hawai‘i actively promoted this false narrative, and some aboriginal Hawaiians even attend sessions of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York, in addition to participating in United Nations Human Rights bodies, in Geneva, promoting aboriginal Hawaiians as a colonized people and not as nationals of an occupied State.

Under the heading “Lack of democratic participation by indigenous and unrepresented peoples” in the 2013 Report, Dr. deZayas notes aboriginal Hawaiians as an indigenous people. A reference is made in the Report to Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee on the Second and Third U.S. Reports to the Committee (2006) in footnote 55 under the heading of “indigenous and unrepresented people.” The Committee was comprised of 18 experts that assumed Hawai‘i to be a part of the United States. The Committee is not to be confused with the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is comprised of 47 member States (nation-states) and not individual experts. The Committee noted it:

“regrets that it has not received sufficient information on the consequences on the situation of Indigenous Native Hawaiians of Public Law 103-150 apologizing to the Native Hawaiian Peoples for the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which resulted in the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Hawaiian people.”

The underlying problem taken here by the Committee of experts is their failure to distinguish between the government and the nation-state (State). It was admitted by the United States that the overthrow was illegal, but it was an illegal overthrow of the government and not the nation-state. Despite the illegal overthrow of the government, the Hawaiian Kingdom, as a nation-state, would continue to exist under a prolonged occupation by the United States. This is similar to the American overthrow of the Iraqi government in 2003, but Iraq, as a nation-state, continued to exist under a military occupation until it ended in 2009. Iraqi nationals during the period of occupation were not a colonial territory of the United States.

In addition, the nation-state is called the “Hawaiian Kingdom,” not the “Kingdom of Hawai‘i.” The term “Kingdom of Hawai‘i” was used in the United States 1993 Apology Resolution, Public Law 103-150. It is an American term.

In the 1893 Protest by Queen Lili‘uokalani she stated, “I, Liliuokalani, by the grace of God and under the constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the constitutional Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom.” She did not identify the country as the “Kingdom of Hawai‘i.”

Based on this misinformation of Hawai‘i’s legal status, Dr. deZayas provided the following recommendation in paragraph 69(n) of the 2013 Report.

“The General Assembly may consider revisiting the reality of self-determination in today’s world and refer to the Special Committee on Decolonization and/or other United Nations instances communications by indigenous and unrepresented peoples wherever they reside, inter alia, in Alaska, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, the Dakotas, French Polynesia, Hawaii, Kashmir, the Middle East, the Moluccas, New Caledonia, Northern Africa, Sri Lanka and West Papua, with reference to Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations. The General Assembly may also consider amending its rules and procedures to allow for the participation of indigenous and non-represented peoples. Meanwhile, the Assembly should urge States to implement the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It should ensure that indigenous, non-represented peoples, marginalized and disempowered peoples, and peoples under occupation have a genuine opportunity to participate in decision-making processes.”

Five years later, Dr. deZayas, did a complete reversal on his understanding of Hawai‘i’s legal status from a colonized people with a right to self-determination to a nation-state, called the Hawaiian Kingdom, that has been under a military occupation by the United States since 1893.

On February 25, 2018, Dr. deZayas authored a memorandum titled “Re: The case of Mme Routh Bolomet” in response to a complaint submitted to the Council by Mrs. Bolomet in 2017. Without getting into the particulars of Mrs. Bolomet’s complaint, the Independent Expert addressed the broader issue of the military occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the requirement of the United States, as the occupying State, to administer the laws of the occupied State, being the Hawaiian Kingdom. He stated,

“I have come to understand that the lawful political status of the Hawaiian Islands is that of a sovereign nation-state in continuity; but a nation-state that is under a strange form of occupation by the United States resulting from an illegal military occupation and a fraudulent annexation. As such, international laws (the Hague and Geneva Conventions) require that governance and legal matters within the occupied territory of the Hawaiian Islands must be administered by the application of the laws of the occupied state (in this case the Hawaiian Kingdom), not the domestic laws of the occupier (the United States).

Here follows Dr. deZayas’ Memorandum in its entirety, which can be downloaded in PDF format.

His memorandum also serves as an amendment to the 2013 Report correcting the legal status of Hawai‘i as an occupied State and not an issue of self-determination for an indigenous group of people. In line with this change, Article 69(e) of his recommendations is more appropriate, “States should ratify the individual complaints procedures of the United Nations human rights treaties, adhere to and utilize the inter-State complaints procedures, and globalize the reach of the International Criminal Court.”

Dr. deZayas’ Memorandum was sent by the Swiss Postal service, La Poste, in Geneva, to the United States President, the Secretary of State, the State of Hawai‘i Attorney General, a State of Hawai‘i Judge Gary W.B. Chang of the Land Court, and State of Hawai‘i Judge Jeanette H. Castagnette of the First Circuit. Mrs. Bolomet is a defendant in a case before both Judge Chang and Judge Castagnetti.

United States Recognizes the Restored Hawaiian Government

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

In March of 2000, the United States, by its Department of State, recognized, de facto, the acting Council of Regency that stemmed from arbitration proceedings in Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom held at the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Illegal State of War Brief

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Hawaiian Kingdom

When the South China Sea Tribunal cited in its award on jurisdiction the Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom case held at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, it should have garnered international attention, especially after the Court acknowledged the Hawaiian Kingdom as a state and Larsen a private entity. The Larsen case was a dispute between a Hawaiian national and his government, who he alleged was negligent for allowing the unlawful imposition of American laws over Hawaiian territory that led to the alleged war crimes of unfair trial, unlawful confinement and pillaging. Larsen sought to have the Tribunal adjudge that the United States of America violated his rights, after which he sought the Tribunal to adjudge that the Hawaiian government was liable for those violations. Although the United States was formally invited it chose not to join in the arbitration thus raising the indispensable third party rule for Larsen to overcome. What is almost completely unknown today is Hawai‘i’s international status as an independent and sovereign state, called the Hawaiian Kingdom, that has been in an illegal state of war with the United States of America since 16 January 1893. The purpose of this article will be to make manifest, in the light of international law, the current illegal state of war that has gone on for well over a century and its profound impact on the international community today.

Hawaiian Kingdom Blog

Weblog of the acting government of the Hawaiian Kingdom presently operating within the occupied State of the Hawaiian Islands.

Category Archives: International Law

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United Nations Acknowledges the Occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom

United States Recognizes the Restored Hawaiian Government

Illegal State of War Brief

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