Hawai‘i Island Circuit Court Judges Ronald Ibarra, Greg K. Nakamura, Glenn S. Hara, and District Court Judges Harry P. Freitas and Joseph Florendo are formally under criminal investigation by the Criminal Investigation Section of the Hawai‘i County Police Department for their alleged role in war crimes by denying defendants a fair and regular trial in foreclosure and ejectment proceedings at the court houses in Hilo and Kona. War crimes are felonies under federal law according to the 1996 War Crimes Act, Title 18 United States Code §2441. These preliminary investigations will then be routed to the United States Pacific Command headquartered at Camp Smith in Honolulu for prosecution because it is the federal agency responsible under the War Crimes Act.

The War Crimes Act is enforceable “outside” of U.S. territory when the United States military is the occupant of an occupied State. Title 18, U.S.C., §2441 reinforces the Lili`uokalani assignment, the 1907 Hague Convention, IV, the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, and U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 to criminally prosecute individuals who commit war crimes/felonies within Hawaiian territory.

Also under investigation for war crimes are the plaintiffs who initiated the complaints for foreclosure and ejectment that include Federal National Mortgage Association, Bank of Hawai‘i, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, The Bank of New York Mellon, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc., Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Wells Fargo Bank, and the lenders’ attorneys Blue Ka‘anehe, Esq., Charles Prather, Esq., Peter K. Keegan, Esq., Mitzi A. Lee, Esq., Sofia M. Hirosane, Esq., Michael G.K. Wong, Esq., Robert E. Chapman, Esq., Mary Martin, Esq., Robert D. Triantos, Esq., Edmund W.K.  Haitsuka, Esq., and Peter Stone, Esq.

Kale Gumapac, President of Laulima Title Search & Claims, LLC, who is one of the seven victims of the alleged felony war crimes, said the other six victims are also clients of his company. Laulima Title packages title insurance claims that provide evidence of a defect in title to property that triggers the title insurance policy purchased at escrow by the borrowers to cover the debt owed to the bank. Purchasing title insurance to protect the bank is a condition of the loan. The banks disregarded the insurance claims and proceeded to foreclose and evict Laulima clients.

The defect stems from two executive agreements entered into in 1893 between Queen Lili‘uokalani and U.S. President Grover Cleveland that settled the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government and mandates the U.S. military in the Hawaiian Islands to administer Hawaiian law, restore the government, and thereafter for the Hawaiian government to grant amnesty to the insurgents. The United States violated the terms of these agreements and began its illegal and prolonged occupation of the Hawaiian Islands since the Spanish-American War in August 1898.

Real estate transactions are defective since January 17, 1893 because deeds were notarized and registered in the Bureau of Conveyances by insurgents calling themselves government officials. The Queen did not pardon these individuals and they were not government officials of the Hawaiian Kingdom. And as a result of the illegal occupation by the United States since 1898, deeds could not be properly notarized and recorded because Hawaiian law was not being administered.

Gumapac stated that when the banks disregarded the insurance contract and used the courts to foreclose and evict, he had no choice but to present evidence that the courts are illegal because the Hawaiian Kingdom as a sovereign state still exists. Attorney Dexter Kaiama represented Gumapac and other clients of Laulima with this argument by providing special appearance in these hearings.

Gumapac stated, “If land titles in Hawai‘i are defective because of 1893, then U.S. courts in Hawai‘i are defective as well.” Gumapac says the reason why people today don’t know this is because we’ve been indoctrinated through Americanization since the early 1900s. He says Americanization is not an excuse for committing a felony.

In the criminal complaint, Gumapac stated that on January 13, 2012 he filed a motion to dismiss Deutsche Bank National Trust Company’s eviction complaint providing evidence of the occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom and that the court was illegally constituted. The hearing was heard before Judge Greg K. Nakamura in Hilo’s Circuit Court on February 14, 2012. Although Kaiama was able to get Nakamura to acknowledge and take judicial notice of the evidence, Nakamura still denied the motion to dismiss without cause.

Nakamura’s decision relied on the 1959 Hawai‘i Admissions Act for the court’s jurisdiction, but without a treaty of cession the Statehood Act is limited to United States territory because Congressional laws have no force and effect in foreign countries. In the criminal complaint Gumapac cited a 1936 U.S. Supreme Court case, U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp, where the court stated, “Neither 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.”

Gumapac alleges that Nakamura, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, and their attorneys Charles Prather, and Sofia Hirosone from the law firm Routh Crabtree Olsen, aka RCO, committed a war crime by willfully depriving him of a fair and regular trial prescribed under Title 18, United States Code, section 2441, which applies to foreign countries that the United States military is occupying. Gumapac argues that the appropriate court is a military commission established by the U.S. Pacific Command that administers Hawaiian Kingdom law. The Pacific Command has yet to comply with international law and establish a military commission.

The Pacific Command has primary responsibility for the prosecution of individuals for violations of Title 18, United States Code, §2441, and the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV. The International Criminal Court has secondary responsibility and will step in if:

1. The proceedings were or are being undertaken or the national decision was made for the purpose of shielding the person concerned from criminal responsibility for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court;
2. There has been an unjustified delay in the proceedings which in the circumstances is inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice; and
3. The proceedings were not or are not being conducted independently or impartially, and they were or are being conducted in a manner which, in the circumstances, is inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice.

By not complying with the international obligations and the International Criminal Court exercises jurisdiction over the Hawaiian Islands as a result of the Pacific Command’s failure to prosecute, the Pacific Command itself and the military in the islands will also be the subject of prosecution by the International Criminal Court for the commission of war crimes.

In 1907, a reporter from New York’s Harper’s Weekly magazine was in the Hawaiian Islands doing a story on the Territorial government’s “Programme for Patriotic Exercises in the Public Schools” taking place since 1906. His article was titled “Hawaii’s Lesson to Headstrong California: How the Island territory has solved the problem of dealing with its four thousand Japanese Public-School children.” The schools covered in the article are Queen Ka‘ahumanu Elementary School, Princess Victoria Ka‘iulani Elementary School, and Honolulu High School, which was renamed later to President William McKinley High School. All three schools remain in existence today.

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On page 227, the article reads:

“At the suggestion of Mr. Babbitt, the principal, Mrs. Fraser, gave an order, and within ten seconds all of the 614 pupils of the school began to march out upon the great green lawn which surrounds the building. Hawaii differs from all our other tropical neighbors in the fact that grass will grow here. To see beautiful, velvety turf amid groves of palms and banana trees and banks of gorgeous scarlet flowers gives a feeling of sumptuousness one cannot find elsewhere.

Out upon the lawn marched the children, two by two, just as precise and orderly as you can find them at home. With the ease that comes of long practice the classes marched and countermarched until all were drawn up in a compact array facing a large American flag that was dancing in the northeast trade-wind forty feet above their heads. Surely this was the most curious, most diverse regiment ever drawn up under that banner—tiny Hawaiians, Americans, Britons, Germans, Portuguese, Scandinavians, Japanese, Chinese, Porto-Ricans, and Heaven knows what else.

‘Attention!’ Mrs. Fraser commanded.

The little regiment stood fast, arms at sides, shoulders back, chests out, heads up, and every eye fixed upon the red, white, and blue emblem that waved protectingly over them.

‘Salute!’ was the principal’s next command.

Every right hand was raised, forefinger extended, and the six hundred and fourteen fresh, childish voices chanted as one voice:

‘We give our heads and our hearts to God and our Country! One Country! One Language! One Flag!’

The last six words were shot out with a force that was explosive. The tone, the gesture, the gaze fixed reverently upon the flag, told their story of loyal fervor. And it was apparent that the salute was given as spontaneously and enthusiastically by the Japanese as by any of the other children. There were hundreds of them in the throng, and their voices rang out as clearly as any others, their hands raised in unison. The coldest clod of a man who sees the children perform this act of reverence must feel a tightening at the throat, and it is even more affecting to see these young atoms from all the world actually being fused in the crucible from which they shall issue presently as good American citizens.”

NOTE: In the text under this photo, Harper’s Weekly specifically used the word “inculcate” in the sentence, “The drill is constantly held as a means of inculcating patriotism in the hearts of the children.” By definition, inculcate is to instill an idea, attitude, or habit by persistent instruction. And indoctrination, by definition, is the process of inculcating ideas and attitudes.

In 1906, a pamphlet was published titled “Programme for Patriotic Exercises in the Public Schools” for the Territory of Hawai‘i. The theme of the program was to indoctrinate the children of the Hawaiian Islands to be “American” and to speak “English.”

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The public schools would adopt one of three formations and salute to the flag, which will end with a salutation by the students in unison, “We give our heads and our hearts to God and our Country! One Country ! One Language ! One Flag !”

Here follows an excerpt from the pamphlet:

PROGRAMME FOR PATRIOTIC EXERCISES

I. Formation and Salute to Flag.

(a) At three minutes to nine o’clock the children assemble in front of the school, the classes forming a circle (or circles) about the flag pole or facing the building over which the stars and stripes are to float. The principal gives the order, “Attention!” or “Face!” The boys remove hats and the teachers, and pupils watch the flag hoisted by two of the older boys. When it reaches the top of the flag-pole, the principal gives the order, “Salute!” or three cheers may be given for the flag as it is being raised.

At nine o’clock the pupils march to their class rooms to the beating of a drum or to some march played by the pianist or school band.

On reaching their class rooms, the children may stand by their seats and repeat in concert the following salutation:

“We give our heads and our hearts to God and our Country! One Country! One Language! One Flag!”

(NOTE: The flag is dipped while the children raise the right hand, forefinger extended, and repeat the pledge. When they salute, the flag is raised to an upright position.)

(b) All the children to be drawn up in line before the school building.

A boy and a girl each holding a medium-sized American flag, stand one on the right and one on the left of the school steps. Boy on the right and girl on the left. The flags should be held military style.

The children at a given signal by the principal or teacher in charge, file past the flags, saluting in correct military manner. The boys to the right and the girls to the left, entering and taking their positions in the school. The flag bearers enter last, and take their positions right and left of the principal, remaining in that position during the salutation, “We give our heads and our hearts to God and our Country! One Country! One Language! One Flag!”

The flag bearers place the flags in position at the head of the school. The boy and girl who carry the flags should be chosen from among the pupils for good conduct during the hours of school.

(c) Pupils attention! at chord on piano or organ, or stroke of drum or bell.

The teacher will call one of the pupils to come forward and stand at one side of desk while the teacher stands at the other. The pupil shall hold an American flag in military style.

At second signal all children shall rise, stand erect and salute the flag, concluding with the salutation, “We give our heads and our hearts to God and our Country! One Country! One Language! One Flag!”

Public schools in the Hawaiian Islands were established by the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1840 under the supervision of the Board of Education. In 1891, a history book was published by order of the Board of Education to be used in the public schools titled “A Brief History of the Hawaiian People.” In 1899, this book was revised to promote the propaganda of annexation and that the Hawaiian Islands were incorporated into the United States of America.

In 1945, the Allied Forces of World War II indicted, prosecuted and convicted Nazi government officials for war crimes. In Count III(j) of the Indictment, one of the war crimes was “Germanization of occupied territories.” Here follows the text of the indictment, which is eerily on point with what the United States did in the Hawaiian Kingdom through “Americanization” at the turn of the 20th century.

“In certain occupied territories purportedly annexed to Germany the defendants methodically and pursuant to plan endeavored to assimilate those territories politically, culturally, socially, and economically into the German Reich. The defendants endeavored to obliterate the former national character of these territories. In pursuance of these plans and endeavors, the defendants forcibly deported inhabitants who were predominantly non-German and introduced thousands of German colonists. This plan included economic domination, physical conquest, installation of puppet governments, purported de jury annexation and enforced conscription into the German Armed Forces. This was carried out in most of the occupied countries including: Norway, France (particularly in the Departments of Upper Rhine, Lower Rhine, Moselle, Ardennes, Aisne, Nord, Meurthe, and Mosselle), Luxembourg, the Soviet Union, Denmark, Belgium, and Holland.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a court of last resort for the prosecution of individuals for war crimes. Primary responsibility for criminal prosecutions lie with the government of a State that has acceded to the Rome Statute. And during occupation of a State’s territory, primary responsibility for criminal prosecution then lies with the Occupant under Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Convention, IV. In the case of Hawai‘i, primary responsibility for initiating investigations and ultimate prosecutions for war crimes lie with the U.S. Pacific Command as the Occupant of Hawaiian territory. If the Occupant fails or refuses to prosecute individuals within the Hawaiian Kingdom for war crimes, then and only then will the ICC be compelled to step in.

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According to Article 17 of the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor of the ICC cannot initiate an investigation into alleged war crimes if:

1. The case is being investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution;
2. The case has been investigated by a State which has jurisdiction over it and the State has decided not to prosecute the person concerned, unless the decision resulted from the unwillingness or inability of the State genuinely to prosecute;
3. The person concerned has already been tried for conduct which is the subject of the complaint; or
4. The case is not of sufficient gravity to justify further action by the Court.

Article 17 further states that in order to determine unwillingness to investigate and/or prosecute, which will compel the ICC involvement is where:

1. The proceedings were or are being undertaken or the national decision was made for the purpose of shielding the person concerned from criminal responsibility for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court;
2. There has been an unjustified delay in the proceedings which in the circumstances is inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice; and
3. The proceedings were not or are not being conducted independently or impartially, and they were or are being conducted in a manner which, in the circumstances, is inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice.

The enforcement of criminal law within a State is referred to as police power. Police power is the capacity by which a government of a State regulates the behavior of its inhabitants in order to promote and maintain the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the public. To maintain public order, the Hawaiian Kingdom enacted a penal code, whose duty of the Hawaiian government’s executive branch was to investigate, indict, and prosecute individuals who commit crimes that are listed in the penal code.

On January 17, 1893, the Hawaiian police, headed by Marshal Charles Wilson, was unable to apprehend insurgents for committing the crime of treason, Chapter VI, Penal Code, without colliding with U.S. Marines who were illegally landed by order of the U.S. diplomat, John Stevens, to protect them. This constituted a threat of war, and compelled Queen Lili‘uokalani to temporarily yield and assign Hawaiian police power, being a portion of the executive power, to the President of the United States or risk war and bloodshed. This assignment of Hawaiian police power is referred to as the Lili`uokalani assignment, which is a binding international agreement-a treaty. After an investigation and confirming the overthrow of the Hawaiian government was illegal, President Cleveland and the Queen entered into a Restoration Agreement whereby the police power would be returned to the Hawaiian government and the Queen thereafter to grant amnesty to the insurgents. These agreements have not been carried out since 1893, but nevertheless remain binding on the President to enforce Hawaiian law.

When the Hawaiian Islands were illegally occupied during the Spanish-American War on August 12, 1898 and thereafter “Americanized,” the international laws of occupation that mandates the Occupant to temporarily enforce the laws of the Occupied State, which includes the penal code, only reinforced the Lili`uokalani assignment. The international laws of occupation has since been codified under the 1907 Hague Convention, IV, and the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, and U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10. War crimes listed in the Rome Statute have since been added to the Hawaiian penal code by virtue of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s accession to the Rome Statute on December 10, 2012.