State of Hawai‘i Government Official Requests from U.S. State Department Legal Opinion on the Current Status of Hawai‘i under International Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 09, 2014

OHA’s top executive makes formal request to U.S. Department of State for legal opinion on the current status of Hawai‘i under international law

Dr CrabbeWASHINGTON, D.C. (May 9, 2014) – The Office of Hawaiian Affairs top executive submitted a formal request with the U.S. Department of State requesting a legal opinion from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office of Legal Counsel addressing the legal status of the Hawai‘i under international law.

The Office of Legal Counsel drafts legal opinions of the U.S. Attorney General and also provides its own written opinions and oral advice in response to requests from the various agencies of the Executive Branch, which includes the Department of State.

Trustees and staff of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are in Washington, D.C., at the invitation of the Department of State for a consultation with representatives of the federal government, federally recognized tribes and other indigenous peoples of the United States on May 9. The topic of the meeting is the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, to be held at the United Nations, September 22-23, 2014. The meeting will take place at the U.S. Department of State, 23rd Street entrance, between C and D Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.

John_KerryIn a letter addressed to Secretary of State John F. Kerry, OHA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kamana‘opono Crabbe, described his request as a very important question that needs to be answered from an agency that is not only qualified but authorized to answer, saying that it is addressing very grave concerns of OHA’s activities in its efforts toward nation building.

“As the chief executive officer and administrator for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, being a governmental agency of the State of Hawai‘i, the law places on me, as a fiduciary, strict standards of diligence, responsibility and honesty,” Crabbe said. “My executive staff, as public officials, carry out the policies and directives of the Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in the service of the Native Hawaiian community. We are responsible to take care, through all lawful means, that we apply the best skills and diligence in the servicing of this community.”

Crabbe explained the action taken was prompted when one of his staff attended a presentation and panel discussion at the William S. Richardson School of Law on April 17, 2014 that featured former Hawai‘i Governor John Waihe‘e, III, Chairman of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, senior Law Professor Williamson Chang, and Dr. Keanu Sai, a political scientist. Click here to view a video of the Law School presentation and panel discussion.

“The presentations of Professor Chang and Dr. Sai provided a legal analysis of the current status of Hawai‘i that appeared to undermine the legal basis of the Roll Commission, and, as alleged in the panel discussions, the possibility of criminal liability under international law. Both Professor Chang and Dr. Sai specifically stated that the Federal and State of Hawai‘i governments are illegal regimes that stem from an illegal and prolonged occupation by the United States as a result of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government.” Crabbe said. “As a government agency of the State of Hawai‘i this would include the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and by enactment of the State of Hawai‘i Legislature, it would also include the Roll Commission. Both Act 195 and U.S. Public Law 103-150, acknowledges the illegality of the overthrow.”

According to Crabbe, “These matters have raised grave concerns with regard to not only the Native Hawaiian community we serve, but also to the vicarious liability of myself, staff and Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and members of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission. The community we serve, the Trustees, and many of my staff members, to include myself, and the members of the Roll Commission are Native Hawaiians, who are direct descendants of Hawaiian subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom.”

Crabbe said he wanted to seek an opinion on the veracity of these allegations from its in house counsel or from the State of Hawai‘i Attorney General, but felt he was prevented because there would appear to be a conflict of interest if these allegations were true.

In his letter, Crabbe said, “because the Department of State is the United States’ executive department responsible for international relations and who also housed diplomatic papers and agreements with the Hawaiian Kingdom, I am respectfully submitting a formal request to have the Department of State request an opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, addressing the following questions:

• First, does the Hawaiian Kingdom, as a sovereign independent State, continue to exist as a subject of international law?

• Second, if the Hawaiian Kingdom continues to exist, do the sole-executive agreements bind the United States today?

• Third, if the Hawaiian Kingdom continues to exist and the sole-executive agreements are binding on the United States, what effect would such a conclusion have on United States domestic legislation, such as the Hawai‘i Statehood Act, 73 Stat. 4, and Act 195?

• Fourth, if the Hawaiian Kingdom continues to exist and the sole-executive agreements are binding on the United States, have the members of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, Trustees and staff of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs incurred criminal liability under international law?”

A press conference is scheduled for Monday, May 12, at 10:00 a.m. when OHA’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Crabbe returns from Washington, D.C.

Click here to download the request letter.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Dr. Crabbe’s letter specifically states:

“For your consideration, I have enclosed Dr. Sai’s law journal article published in the Journal of Law and Social Challenges that compares federal recognition under the Akaka bill and the international laws of occupation. Act 195 is the State of Hawai‘i’s version of the Akaka bill. Dr. Sai argues that Native Hawaiians are not indigenous people of the United States, but rather nationals of an occupied State. In addition, I’m am also enclosing a brief authored by Dr. Sai and Professor Matthew Craven from the University of London, SOAS, Law School, titled “The Continuity of the Hawaiian State and the Legitimacy of the acting Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom;” a DVD packet with booklet of the Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom, Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, Netherlands (1999-2001); a Complaint filed with the President of the United Nations Security Council in 2001 (without exhibits); a Protest and Demand filed with the President of the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 (without exhibits); a Referral submitted with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at the Hague, Netherlands, in 2013, calling upon the Prosecutor for the investigation of war crimes alleged to have been committed in Hawai‘i (without exhibits); and a complaint for war crimes filed with the Philippine government under its universal jurisdiction alleging that one of our Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Ms. S. Haunani Apoliona, committed a war crime in her private capacity as a member of the Board of Directors for the Bank of Hawai‘i (without exhibits).”

“While I await the opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel, I will be requesting approval from the Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs that we refrain from pursuing a Native Hawaiian governing entity until we can confirm that the Hawaiian Kingdom, as an independent sovereign State, does not continue to exist under international law and that we, as individuals, have not incurred any criminal liability in this pursuit.”

# # #

Media Contact: Garett Kamemoto

Communications Manager

808-594-1982

garettk@oha.org

Hawai‘i War Crimes: Depleted Uranium found in Army Training Areas in Hawai‘i

War crimes are actions taken by individuals, whether military or civilian, that violates international humanitarian law, which includes the 1907 Hague Conventions, 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. War crimes include “grave breaches” of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which also applies to territory that is occupied even if the occupation takes place without resistance. Protected persons under International Humanitarian Law are all nationals who reside within an occupied State, except for the nationals of the Occupying Power. The International Criminal Court and States prosecute individuals for war crimes.

War Crimes: Destroying or seizing the [Occupied State’s] property unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war

In 2006, the United States Army disclosed to the public that depleted uranium (DU) was found on the firing ranges at Schofield Barracks on the Island of O‘ahu. It subsequently confirmed DU was also found at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Island of Hawai‘i and suspect that DU is also at Makua Military Reservation on the Island of O‘ahu. The ranges have yet to be cleared of DU and the ranges are still used for live fire. This brings the inhabitants who live down wind from these ranges into harms way because when the DU ignites or explodes from the live fire, it creates tiny particles of aerosolized DU oxide that can travel by wind. And if the DU gets into the drinking water or oceans it would have a devastating effect across the islands.

The following video and information is provided by Kamakako‘i: Cutting Edge.

The information below has been consolidated and summarized primarily from publicly available documents on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s web-based “Agencywide Documents Access and Management System” (ADAMS). A comprehensive listing of the original documents related to U.S. Army depleted uranium licensing in Hawai‘i can be found by going to http://adams.nrc.gov/wba/ and doing a search of “Docket Number 04009083.” The date and “accession” reference number for each document is provided in the filename of each downloadable document.

DEPLETED URANIUM BACKGROUND:

Depleted Uranium (DU) (external link) is a byproduct of the nuclear energy and atomic weapon industries. Because it has been altered, DU is less radioactive than natural uranium, which occurs naturally in the environment. DU is forty percent more dense than lead, yet lighter than other comparable materials, and has civilian uses such as in medical applications, as well as for ballast in aircraft and boats. DU is used in military applications as ballast for spotting rounds and as armor and weaponry because it has the ability to pierce other kinds of armor, self-sharpen, and ignite on impact at very high temperatures.

DEPLETED URANIUM AND THE ARMY IN HAWAI‘I:

According to Army documents, between 1962 and 1968, the Army used DU in M101 spotting rounds for the Davy Crockett Weapon system, a low-yield battlefield nuclear device. The body of the M101 spotting round contained 6.2 ounces of DU that allowed soldiers to simulate the flight path of the munitions fired from the Davy Crockett Weapon system. Although not an atomic explosive, M101 spotting rounds contained a small amount of explosive charge that created a puff of smoke to allow training soldiers to locate the point of impact for a round. Remnants of the M101 rounds were rediscovered during unexploded ordnance clearance at the Schofield Barracks impact area in August 2005, and again following prescribed burns in September 2006.

LICENSE APPLICATION:

In November 2008, the U.S. Army submitted an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a materials license to possess depleted uranium at military installations where the Davy Crockett M101 spotting round was used in training activities. In Hawai‘i, the U.S. Army application covered impact areas (where access is restricted due to the presence of in-field hazards, including unexploded ordnance) within training ranges located at Schofield Barracks on O‘ahu and the Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawai‘i Island. The license was requested to cover the possession and maintenance of depleted uranium remaining in the field from the 1960s training. Due to sparse training records (full document with appendices can be found here (external link)), the amount of DU and the distribution of rounds within each training range could not be determined, so the Army sought to license the 125 kilograms of DU from 714 spotting rounds that the Army believed it had fired at Schofield Barracks and Pohakuloa Training Area.

ENFORCEMENT ACTION:

In response to a request filed by a Hawai‘i Island resident, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission initiated an enforcement investigation against the U.S. Army for its possession of DU without a materials license, following the expiration of its previously held license in April 1978. On August 1, 2011, the NRC issued a notice of violation to the Army for its possession of DU at training ranges located at Schofield Barracks and the Pohakuloa Training Area from spotting round fragments of the M101 Davy Crockett weapon system, fired at Army training ranges during the 1960s. The NRC considered the violation to be significant, but did not impose a civil penalty due to the corrective actions proposed by the Army to control access into areas suspected of containing DU.

LICENSE EXEMPTION REQUEST: 

During its extended negotiations with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the conditions of a DU possession license, the U.S. Army formally applied for an exemption for its in-field DU at Schofield Barracks and Pohakuloa Training Ranges, by letter dated September 10, 2012. Through information provided in its original request and a later February 6, 2013 response, the Army argued that it had met its burden of showing that the exemption would not “endanger life or property, or the common defense and security and [would be] otherwise in the public interest.” The NRCdenied the Army’s request for a license exemption.

DU POSSESSION LICENSE ISSUED:

On October 23, 2013, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued to the U.S. Army a materials license for DU located at Schofield Barracks and Pohakuloa Training Area. In addition to the conditions contained in the license, the NRC incorporated the commitments, representations, and statements contained in the Army’s original license application, the Physical Security Plan, and the Radiation Safety Plan. The materials license also requires the Army to provide the NRC with an air sampling plan and a plant sampling plan for its review and approval. In accordance with its materials license and air sampling plan, the Army conducted training that included high-explosive fire into the radiological control area at Schofield Barracks in February 2014, with an NRC inspector present.

Meeting at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law

On the same day the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Envoy was meeting with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs’ Directorate of International Law in Bern, Switzerland, on March 26, 2014, Dr. Keanu Sai was in a meeting with Dr. Stuart Casey-Maslen, head of research for the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law in Geneva. The University of Lausanne, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs assists the Academy. The Academy is considering listing Hawai‘i as an occupied State.

Sai_MaslenAt the meeting, Dr. Sai presented a power point presentation on the history of the Hawaiian Kingdom and how it came under an illegal and prolonged occupation. Dr. Maslen was also provided with information and evidence of the occupation. Dr. Maslen assured Dr. Sai that a decision will be made and if it has been determined that Hawai‘i is occupied according to the Academy’s criteria it will be listed on its website Rule of Law of Armed Conflict in June. The website provides monthly updates on armed conflicts and occupation and is currently under construction, but will be completed by June.

war reportDr. Maslen is the editor of The War Report, which is a project of the Academy that identifies and briefly discusses armed conflicts according to the criteria established under international law. The War Report is a comprehensive global analysis of armed conflicts under international law, which includes military occupations. According to the Academy, “The purpose of The War Report is to collect information in the public domain and provide legal analysis for governments, policy makers, the United Nations, academics, NGOs, and journalists.”

andrew_clapman“The classification of an armed conflict under international law is an objective legal test and not a decision left to national governments or any international body, not even the UN Security Council,” says Andrew Clapham, Director of the Academy and Graduate Institute Professor in International Law. “It is not always clear when a situation is an armed conflict, and hence when war crimes can be punished,” added Professor Clapham. “The War Report aims to change this and bring greater accountability for criminal acts perpetuated in armed conflicts.”

The Academy’s listing of the Hawaiian Kingdom as an occupied State will promote accountability for individuals who have committed war crimes in the Hawaiian Islands where prosecution can take place before the International Criminal Court and as well as by countries that have universal jurisdiction such as the Philippines and Germany.

Swiss Foreign Ministry Meets With Hawaiian Envoy in Bern

Due to the war crimes that continue to be committed with impunity by the State of Hawai‘i, an illegal regime, against innocent civilians, the acting government of the Hawaiian Kingdom has temporarily refrained from pursuing its proceedings at the International Court of Justice and has decided to focus its attention to secure a Protecting Power pursuant to the Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV) and the Additional Protocol I (API). A Protecting Power is a State that ensures compliance of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the United States to the provisions of the GCIV and API, with particular focus on the protection of civilians.

As a State Party to the GCIV and AP, article 5(1) of the API, states, “It is the duty of the Parties to a conflict from the beginning of that conflict to secure the supervision and implementation of the Conventions and of this Protocol by the application of the system of Protecting Powers, including inter alia the designation and acceptance of those Powers, in accordance with the following paragraphs.” And according to article 5(3) of the API, if a Protecting Power has not been designated, “the International Committee of the Red Cross…shall offer its good offices to the Parties to the conflict with a view to the designation without delay of a Protecting Power to which the Parties to the conflict consent.”

On December 18, 2013, at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was formally requested to assist the Hawaiian Kingdom in securing a Protecting Power in accordance with the GCIV and API. In this pursuit, the acting government has been in the process of securing a meeting with the Swiss government in order to formally request that it be a Protecting Power and to work with the ICRC. The Swiss government has a long history of serving as a mediator to international conflicts and did serve as a protecting power in the past. A meeting was secured on March 26, 2014, and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs’ Directorate of International Law in Bern, Switzerland, received the acting government’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. Negotiations to secure Switzerland as a Protecting Power for the illegal and prolonged occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom have begun.

The Hawaiian Kingdom at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (1999-2001)

https://vimeo.com/17007826

On November 8, 1999, international arbitration proceedings were initiated at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague, Netherlands, between Lance Paul Larsen and the acting Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom (Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom). The arbitration agreement provided, “The Arbitral Tribunal is asked to determine, on the basis of the Hague Conventions IV and V of 18 October 1907, and the rules and principles of international law, whether the rights of the Claimant under international law as a Hawaiian subject are being violated, and if so, does he have any redress against the Respondent Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom?”

Larsen was arrested on October 4, 1999, in Hilo, Hawai‘i, and imprisoned for 30 days, seven of which were in solitary confinement, for following Hawaiian Kingdom law. Larsen, as the Claimant, alleged that the acting government, the Respondent, was Ninia_Parkslegally liable to him for allowing the unlawful imposition of American municipal laws over him within the territorial jurisdiction of the Hawaiian Kingdom. In the pleading, Larsen’s attorney, Ms. Ninia Parks, esq., based her case on the following grounds:

    1. Mr. Larsen is a Hawaiian subject, with a Hawaiian nationality.
    2. As a Hawaiian subject, Mr. Larsen is bound by Hawaiian Kingdom law. He is not bound by the laws of the State of Hawaii nor by the laws of the United States of America.
    3. Mr. Larsen’s rights as a Hawaiian subject have been systematically and continuously denied by the United States of America, the occupying force in the prolonged occupation of the Hawaiian islands by the United States of America. At a minimum, the United States of America has continually denied Mr. Larsen’s nationality as a Hawaiian subject, has illegally imposed American laws over his person, has extorted monetary fines from Mr. Larsen under threat of imprisonment, and has imprisoned Mr. Larsen for asserting his lawful rights as a Hawaiian national.
    4. The government of the Hawaiian Kingdom has a duty to protect the rights of Mr. Larsen, a Hawaiian subject, despite the continued occupation of the Hawaiian Islands by the United States of America.
    5. The government of the Hawaiian Kingdom, through its acting Regency, has not fulfilled this duty.

PCA_SaiIn its pleading, the acting Government, represented by Dr. Keanu Sai as lead agent, denied the allegations and submitted “that the Claimant’s rights under international law are being violated, but to what extent, is left to the Arbitral Tribunal to decide. That this decision must be made within fixed and established principles and laws pertaining to the matter, and that the Hawaiian Kingdom Government is not liable for redress of these violations under its present conditions as an occupied State.”

In the American Journal of International Law, vol. 95, p. 928 (2001), and reprinted in the Hawaiian Journal of Law and Politics, vol. 1, p. 83 (2004), Bederman and Hilbert, state that at “the center of the PCA proceeding 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 Hawai‘i. 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 committed against him.”

Tjaco_van_den_HoutIn February 2000, the PCA’s Secretary General Tjaco T. van den Hout recommended that the acting Government provide a formal invitation to the United States to join in the arbitration. In order to carry out this request by the Secretary General, Dr. Sai was sent to Washington, D.C. Ms. Ninia Parks, attorney for the Claimant Lance Larsen, accompanied Dr. Sai.

John_CrookOn March 3, 2000, a telephone meeting with John R. Crook, Assistant Legal Adviser for United Nations Affairs section of the US Department of State, was held. It was stated to Mr. Crook that the “visit was to provide these documents to the Legal Department of the U.S. Department of State in order for the U.S. Government to be apprised of the arbitral proceedings already in train and that the Hawaiian Kingdom, by consent of the Claimant, extends an opportunity for the United States to join in the arbitration as a party.”

Mr. Crook was made fully aware of the United States occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the establishment of the acting Government. This direct challenge to US sovereignty over the Hawaiian Islands should have prompted the United States to protest the action taken by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in accepting the Hawaiian arbitration case and call upon the Secretary General to cease and desist because this action constitutes a violation of US sovereignty. The United States did Phyllis_Hamiltonneither. Instead, Deputy Secretary General Phyllis Hamilton notified the acting Government that the United States notified the Court that it will not join in the arbitration, but did request from the acting government permission to access all pleadings and transcripts of the case. Both the acting government and Larsen’s attorney consented. By this action, the United States directly acknowledged the circumstances of the proceedings and the acting government’s representation of the Hawaiian Kingdom before an international tribunal.

James_CrawfordThree distinguished jurists presided on the Arbitration Tribunal. Professor James Crawford, SC, served as Presiding arbitrator. Professor Crawford is a professor of international law at the University of Cambridge. At the time of the arbitration, Crawford was also a member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) and was responsible for the ILC’s work on the International Criminal Court (1994) and the Articles on State Responsibility (2001).

Christopher_GreenwoodJudge Sir Christopher Greenwood, QC, served as Associate arbitrator. Greenwood was at the time professor of international law at the London School of Economics and Political Science and legal counsel to the United Nations on the Laws of War and Occupation. In 2008, the United Nations elected Greenwood to be judge on the International Court of Justice.

Gavan_GriffithDr. Gavan Griffith, QC, served as Associate Arbitrator. Griffith was former Solicitor General for Australia and also served as counsel and agent for Australia in Nauru v. Australia before the International Court of Justice.

Three days of oral hearings were set for December 7, 8 and 11, 2000 at the PCA. At the center of these proceedings was whether or not Larsen was able to maintain his suit against the acting Government for not protecting him without the participation of the United States who would need to answer to the alleged violations committed by them against Larsen. Larsen was attempting to hold the acting Government responsible for his injuries committed by the United States. In international law, this is a situation called the “necessary and indispensable party” rule and it was the basis of decisions made by the International Court of Justice in Monetary Gold case (Italy v. France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America), the Nauru case (Nauru v. Australia), and the East Timor case (Portugal v. Australia).

In the 2001 Arbitral Award, the Tribunal explained, that it “cannot determine whether the Respondent [the acting government] has failed to discharge its obligations towards the Claimant [Larsen] without ruling on the legality of the acts of the United States of America. Yet that is precisely what the Monetary Gold principle precludes the Tribunal from doing. As the International Court explained in the East Timor case, ‘the Court could not rule on the lawfulness of the conduct of a State when its judgment would imply an evaluation of the lawfulness of the conduct of another State which is not a party to the case.’”

The Tribunal, however, did acknowledge the Hawaiian Kingdom to be an independent State. In its decision, the Tribunal concluded in the Award, “that in 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.” International law provides for the continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom since the nineteenth century to the present, which was the basis for the arbitration case in the first place.

Acting Government On Course to Secure a Protecting Power

Since meeting with officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on December 17, 2013 at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the acting government has been actively involved in securing a Protecting Power under the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Additional Protocol 1. This process includes the ICRC and an unnamed State party to both the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Additional Protocol, but due to the sensitivity of the situation and negotiations the acting government is unable to provide a status report until a Protecting Power has been secured. A Protecting Power protects the interest of a third State and its citizenry during occupation.

The acting government deposited its instrument of accession to the Fourth Geneva Convention with the Swiss government on January 14, 2013 followed by its accession to the Additional Protocol 1 on December 16, 2013. As a party to the Geneva Convention, it is the duty of the acting government to secure a Protecting Power, being another party to the Geneva Conventions that is independent and not a party to the conflict. Article 5(1) of the Additional Protocol 1 provides: “It is the duty of the Parties to a conflict from the beginning of that conflict to secure the supervision and implementation of the Conventions and of this Protocol by the application of the system of Protecting Powers, including ‘inter alia’ the designation and acceptance of those Powers… Protecting Powers shall have the duty of safeguarding the interests of the Parties to the conflict.”

Article 1 of both the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Additional Protocol 1 provides that the “High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for [the Convention and Protocol] in all circumstances.” According to the ICRC’s commentaries “the duty to respect implies that of ensuring respect by civilian and military authorities, the members of the armed forces, and in general, by the population as a whole.” The acting government has diligently worked to ensure compliance by these parties, but these authorities have recklessly disregarded the heeded warnings of compliance and have instead committed war crimes on a grand scale siding with the United States presence. This is directly attributable to the United States’ willful failure, as the occupying Power, to comply with the laws of occupation since the occupation began in 1898.

On this note, the ICRC comments, “In the event of a Power failing to fulfill its obligations, each of the other Contracting Parties, (neutral, allied or enemy) should endeavor to bring it back to an attitude of respect for the Convention. The proper working of the system of protection provided by the Convention demands in fact that the States which are parties to it should not be content merely to apply its provisions themselves, but should do everything in their power to ensure that it is respected universally.”

As stated on the acting government’s website:

“The primary objective of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government is to expose the occupation of our nation within the framework of the 1907 Hague Conventions IV and V and our domestic statutes, and to provide a foundation for transition and the ultimate end of the occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Convention IV mandates that the occupying government, being the United States of America, must administer the laws of the occupied State, being the Hawaiian Kingdom, and any deviation of this mandate is a violation of international law.”

Hawai‘i War Crimes: Attempts to Denationalize the Inhabitants of an Occupied State

War crimes are actions taken by individuals, whether military or civilian, that violates international humanitarian law, which includes the 1907 Hague Conventions, 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. War crimes include “grave breaches” of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which also applies to territory that is occupied even if the occupation takes place without resistance. Protected persons under International Humanitarian Law are all nationals who reside within an occupied State, except for the nationals of the Occupying Power. The International Criminal Court and States prosecute individuals for war crimes.

War Crimes: Attempts to Denationalize the Inhabitants of an Occupied State

The first instance of war crimes was brought up during World War I. In 1919, the Commission on Responsibilities of the Paris Peace Conference identified 32 war crimes, one of which was “attempts to denationalize the inhabitants of occupied territory.” The prosecution of German officials and their Allies for war crimes committed during World War I, however, was dismal. Of 5,000 individuals reported for war crimes only 12 were tried and 6 were convicted.

In October of 1943, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union established the United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC). World War II had been waging since 1939, and atrocities committed by Germany, Italy and Japan drew the attention of the Allies to hold individuals responsible for the commission of war crimes. On December 2, 1943, the UNWCC adopted the war crimes that were drawn up by the Commission on Responsibilities in 1919 with the addition of another war crime—indiscriminate mass arrests. The UNWCC was organized into three Committees: Committee I (facts and evidence), Committee II (enforcement), and Committee III (legal matters).

Committee III was asked to provide a report on war crime charges against four Italians accused of denationalization in Yugoslavia. The charge stated:

“Apart from killing, deportation and interning innocent persons, the Italians started a policy, on a vast scale, of denationalization. As a part of such a policy, they started a system of ‘re-education’ of Yugoslav children. This re-education consisted of forbidding children to use the Serbo-Croat language, to sing Yugoslav songs and forcing them to salute in a fascist way, become members of the G.I.L. (Gioventu italiana del Littoria) and spend a certain time in camps for ‘education.’ In all these actions aimed at the denationalization of Yugoslav children, Dr. Binna took a very active part. He brought Italian teachers from Italy and posted them all over the province of Zadar. Amongst those Italian teachers who insisted on the Italianization of Yugoslav children, BETTINI, Education Inspector and INCHIOSTRI, head-master of a secondary school at SIBENIK took a prominent part. Dr. Tulio NICOLETTI Trustee for Education at SIBENIK, and Edoardo CIUBELLI, Education Inspector at ZADAR, were also prominently associated with this policy. NICOLETTI organized special courses for teachers to learn Italian and Italian ‘methods’ and he threatened all those who would not attend the courses. Dr. BINNA is also responsible for forbidding the edition of any newspaper printed in the Serbo-Croat language, and for forcing Yugoslavs to hoist Italian flags.”

The question before Committee III was whether or not “denationalization” constituted a war crime that called for prosecution or merely a violation of international law. The Committee reported:

“It is the duty of belligerent occupants to respect, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country (Art. 43 of the Hague Regulations). Inter alia, family honour and rights and individual life must be respected (Art. 46). The right of a child to be educated in his own native language falls certainly within the rights protected by Article 46 (‘individual life’). Under Art. 56, the property of institutions dedicated to education is privileged. If the Hague Regulations afford particular protection to school buildings, it is certainly not too much to say that they thereby also imply protection for what is going to be done within those protected buildings. It would certainly be a mistaken interpretation of the Hague Regulations to suppose that while the use of Yugoslav school buildings for Yugoslav children is safe-guarded, it should be left to the unfettered discretion of the occupant to replace Yugoslav education by Italian education.”

“It is the rationale of Art. 56 to protect spiritual values. And in order to afford this protection to spiritual values the provision protects the property of institutions dedicated to public worship, charity, education, science and art as a means to a certain end; to make public worship, charity, education, science and art possible even under belligerent occupation. If the belligerent occupant must not confiscate, seize, destroy, or willfully damage the property of educational institutions, he is the less entitled to interfere with the spiritual and intellectual life of the schools, the only possible legitimate exception being considerations of the safety of the occupying forces.”

The Committee concluded:

“In the case of Nicoletti (No. 20) who is described as Educational Trustee, it appears that he was a kind of Commissioner in charge of the administration and Italianization of the schools in the district. In his case it seems to be conceivable to fasten upon him the individual responsibility for the whole Italianization scheme. The case of the three other persons who were mainly teaching personnel, seems prima facie to be different.”

Denationalization through Germanization was also taking place during World War II. “Within weeks of the fall of France, Alsace-Lorraine was annexed and thousands of citizens deemed too loyal to France, not to mention all its ‘alien-race’ Jews and North African residents, were unceremoniously deported to Vichy France, the southeastern section of the country still under French control. This was done in the now all too familiar manner: the deportees were given half an hour to pack and were deprived of most of their assets. By the end of July 1940, Alsace and Lorraine had become Reich provinces. The French administration was replaced and the French language totally prohibited in the schools. By 1941, the wearing of berets had been forbidden, children had to sing ‘Deutschland über Alles’ instead of ‘La Marseillaise’ at school, and racial screening was in full swing.” Lynn H. Nicholas, Cruel World: The Children of Europe in the Nazi Web (2005), 277.

Patriotic Exercises_THIn 1906, the United States, as the occupying State, instituted a plan of Americanization in the Hawaiian Islands. The objective was to erase any and all national consciousness of the Hawaiian Kingdom amongst the school children in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian language was banned and American patriotism was taught in the public schools. The policy was established to counter the strong Hawaiian nationalism and opposition to American annexation as reported by the San Francisco Call newspaper, Strangling Hands Upon a Nation’s Throat (1897), Hawaii’s Last Struggle for Freedom (1897), and Passing of Hawaii as a Nation (1898). Americanization was carried out on a massive scale across the islands by inculcating American patriotism into the hearts of the school children and have them recite on a daily basis, ““We give our heads and our hearts to God and our Country! One Country! One Language! One Flag!”

Children_Salute_1907

The policy of Americanization bore a striking resemblance to Italianization and Germanization that took place during World War II, but where the German and Italian occupations only lasted six years (1939-1945), the American occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom (1898-present) has gone uninterrupted for 116 years. What Germany and Italy failed to accomplish in six years, the United States was nearly successful at 116 years.

Today, there is no clear distinction made between the occupying State and the occupied State, as was the case between Yugoslavia and Italy or France and Germany during World War II. This was the case, however, when the United States military occupation began in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. But because of the prolonged nature of the occupation and the nearly successful program of denationalization, this clear distinction between the occupier and the occupied soon dissipated and our own people have unknowingly become the ones maintaining the policy of Americanization at the present.

The revitalization of the Hawaiian language and culture is in response to years of Americanization and the fact that the majority of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands, to include the aboriginal Hawaiian, do not speak the Hawaiian language and know very little of Hawaiian culture is unequivocally the evidence of the war crime of “denationalization.”

Hawai‘i War Crimes: Destroying or seizing the Occupied State’s property

War crimes are actions taken by individuals, whether military or civilian, that violates international humanitarian law, which includes the 1907 Hague Conventions, 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. War crimes include “grave breaches” of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which also applies to territory that is occupied even if the occupation takes place without resistance. Protected persons under International Humanitarian Law are all nationals who reside within an occupied State, except for the nationals of the Occupying Power. The International Criminal Court and States prosecute individuals for war crimes.

War Crimes: Destroying or seizing the [Occupied State’s] property unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war

On August 12, 1898, the United States of America seized approximately 1.8 million acres of land that belonged to the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom and to the office of the Monarch. These lands were called Government lands and Crown lands, respectively, whereby the former being public lands and the latter private lands. These combined lands constituted nearly half of the entire territory of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Beginning on July 20, 1899, President McKinley began to set aside portions of these lands by executive orders for “installation of shore batteries and the construction of forts and barracks.” Below are the schematics for defense of the popularly known Diamond Head crater at Waikiki.

Diamond_Head_Military_Station

The first executive order set aside 15,000 acres for two Army military posts on the Island of O‘ahu called Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter. According to Van Brackle’s “Pearl Pearl_HarborHarbor from the First Mention of ‘Pearl Lochs’ to Its Present Day Usage,” this soon followed the securing of lands for Pearl Harbor naval base in 1901 when the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for condemnation of 719 acres of private lands surrounding Pearl River, which later came to be known as Pearl Harbor. By 2012, the U.S. military has 118 military sites that span 230,929 acres of the Hawaiian Islands, which is 20% of the total acreage of Hawaiian territory.

Military training locations include Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands Tactical Underwater Range, and Barking Sands Underwater Range Expansion on the Island of Kaua‘i; the entire Islands of Ni‘ihau and Ka‘ula; Pearl Harbor, Lima Landing, Pu‘uloa Underwater Range—Pearl Harbor, Barbers Point Underwater Range, Coast Guard AS Barbers Point/Kalaeloa Airport, Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i, Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hickam Air Force Base, Kahuku Training Area, Makua Military Reservation, Dillingham Military Reservation, Wheeler Army Airfield, and Schofield Barracks on the Island of O‘ahu; and Bradshaw Army Airfield and Pohakuloa Training Area on the Island of Hawai‘i.

The United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet headquartered at Pearl Harbor hosts the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) every other even numbered year, which is the largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is a multinational, sea control and power projection exercise that collectively consists of activity by the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Naval forces, as well as military forces from other foreign States. During the month long exercise, RIMPAC training events and live fire exercises occur in open-ocean and at the military training locations throughout the Hawaiian Islands. In 2012, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore and South Korea participated in the RIMPAC exercises.

In 2006, the United States Army disclosed to the public that depleted uranium (DU) was found on the firing ranges at Schofield Barracks on the Island of O‘ahu. It subsequently confirmed DU was also found at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Island of Hawai‘i and suspect that DU is also at Makua Military Reservation on the Island of O‘ahu. The ranges have yet to be cleared of DU and the ranges are still used for live fire. This brings the inhabitants who live down wind from these ranges into harms way because when the DU ignites or explodes from the live fire, it creates tiny particles of aerosolized DU oxide that can travel by wind. And if the DU gets into the drinking water or oceans it would have a devastating effect across the islands.

The Hawaiian Kingdom has never consented to the establishment of military installations throughout its territory and these installations and war-gaming exercises stand in direct violation of Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4, 1907 Hague Convention, V, Respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in Case of War on Land.

The deliberate and willful decision by the United States of America’s administration, as the occupant State, not to comply with international law and establish a military government since 1893 to administer the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom, being the occupied State, has led to grave breaches and war crimes on an grand scale equal to none in the history of the world and the ramifications are world wide.

As a consequence of the illegal presence of United States military installations throughout the Hawaiian Islands, the United States of America consequently placed the Hawaiian Kingdom and its population in perilous danger from military attack by foreign States. On December 7, 1941, Japan’s military attacked United States military sites on the Island of O‘ahu.

Civilian_Casualty_Pearl_Harbor

In 1990, the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published Risks and Hazards: A State by State Guide. One of the subjects included nuclear targets and identified six (6) nuclear targets on the island of O‘ahu that coincided with the locations of military posts of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Also included as a target is the Headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Command at Camp Smith that lies in the back of a residential area called Halawa. According to FEMA, the entire Island of O‘ahu would be obliterated if a nuclear attack were to take place.

hi-nu

The United States military presence also incurs the threat of attack from States and non-State actors who are adversaries of the United States of America. On March 26, 2013, the New York Times reported, “North Korea said on Tuesday 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 and Guam and other operational zones in the Pacific as well as all the enemy targets in South Korea and its vicinity.’” The Christian Science Monitor also reported, “North Korea announced today in a blizzard of threats that it is ready to target US military bases in Guam and Hawaii as part of a full-alert military posture.”

Hawai‘i War Crimes: Unlawful Deportation or Transfer or Unlawful Confinement

War crimes are actions taken by individuals, whether military or civilian, that violates international humanitarian law, which includes the 1907 Hague Conventions, 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. War crimes include “grave breaches” of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which also applies to territory that is occupied even if the occupation takes place without resistance. Protected persons under International Humanitarian Law are all nationals who reside within an occupied State, except for the nationals of the Occupying Power. The International Criminal Court and States prosecute individuals for war crimes.

War Crimes: Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement

According to the United States Department of Justice, the prison population in the Hawaiian Islands in 2009 was at 5,891. Of this population there were 286 aliens. Two paramount issues arise—first, prisoners were sentenced by courts that were not properly constituted under Hawaiian Kingdom law and/or the international laws of occupation and therefore were unlawfully confined, which is a war crime; second, the alien prisoners were not advised of their rights in an occupied State by their State of nationality in accordance with the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Compounding the violation of alien prisoners rights under the Vienna Convention, Consulates located in the Hawaiian Islands were granted exequaturs by the government of the United States of America by virtue of United States treaties and not treaties between the Hawaiian Kingdom and these foreign States.

In 2003, the United States of America through its political subdivision, the State of Hawai‘iallocated funding to transfer up to 1,500 prisoners to private corrections institutions in the United States of America. By June of 2004, there were 1,579 Hawai‘i inmates in these facilities. Although the transfer was justified as a result of overcrowding, the government of the State of Hawai‘i did not possess authority to transfer, let alone to prosecute in the first place. Therefore, the unlawful confinement and transfer of inmates are war crimes.

Hawai‘i War Crimes: Willfully Depriving a Protected Person of a Fair Trial

War crimes are actions taken by individuals, whether military or civilian, that violates international humanitarian law, which includes the 1907 Hague Conventions, 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. War crimes include “grave breaches” of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which also applies to territory that is occupied even if the occupation takes place without resistance. Protected persons under International Humanitarian Law are all nationals who reside within an occupied State, except for the nationals of the Occupying Power. The International Criminal Court and States prosecute individuals for war crimes.

War Crimes: Willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial

Since January 17, 1893, there have been no lawfully constituted courts in the Hawaiian Islands whether Hawaiian Kingdom courts or military commissions established by order of the Commander of the United States Pacific Command in conformity with the 1907 Hague Convention, IV, the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, and the international laws of occupation.

The Federal courts and State of Hawai‘i courts in the Hawaiian Islands derive their authority from the Hawai‘i Statehood Act, which is a statute enacted by the United States Congress in 1959. Section 9 states that “the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii established by and existing under title 28 of the United States Code shall henceforth be a court of the United States with judicial power derived from article III, section 1, of the Constitution of the United States;” and Section 12 provides that “State courts shall be the successors of the courts of the Territory [of Hawai‘i] as to all cases arising within the limits embraced within the jurisdiction of such courts, respectively, with full power to proceed.”

The United States Constitution and Congressional laws have no legal effect beyond the borders of the United States. According to the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp., 299 U.S. 304, 318 (1936), “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. As a member of the family of nations, the right and power of the United States in that field are equal to the right and power of the other members of the international family.” Without a treaty of cession, these Courts cannot claim to have any authority in the territory of a foreign State, and, therefore, they are not properly constituted to give defendant(s) a fair and regular trial whether in civil or criminal proceedings.

International law also provides limitations to the exercise of jurisdiction. The sovereignty of an independent state is territorial and international law provides for its restrictions and exceptions. In The Lotus case, the Permanent Court of International Justice stated, “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. In this sense jurisdiction is certainly territorial; it cannot be exercised by a State outside its territory except by virtue of a permissive rule derived from international custom or from convention (treaty).” The Court continued, “In these circumstances, all that can be required of a State is that it should not overstep the limits which international law places upon its jurisdiction; within these limits, its title to exercise jurisdiction rests in its sovereignty.”

In 2006, the United States Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether or not the military courts at Guantanamo Bay were lawfully established. The case was Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557. The Court relied on the International Committee of the Red Cross that defines a “regularly constituted court” as a court “established and organized in accordance with the laws and procedures already in force in a country.” Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, prohibits “the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.” The Federal courts and State of Hawai‘i courts were not established “in accordance with the laws and procedures” of the Hawaiian Kingdom nor was it regularly constituted under the international laws of occupation, and therefore was not “regularly constituted” under any of the above standards.

Only a “regularly constituted court” may pass judgment, and when a court is not “regularly constituted,” the proceedings that would lead to a judgment imposed by it would not only be extrajudicial, but would also constitute a war crime.  Enforcements of these judgments would also constitute war crimes because the judgments themselves are unlawful. In Hamdan, Justice Kennedy concluded that a court that is not regularly constituted could not provide any guarantees of a fair trial.

In a civil case hearing that came before Judge Glenn S. Hara, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., vs. Elaine E. Kawasaki, et al., civil no. 11-1-106, in the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit, State of Hawai‘i, on June 15, 2012, Mr. Kaiama, Esq., provided special appearance for Defendant Elaine E. Kawasaki on a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction based on two executive agreements entered into between U.S. President Grover Cleveland and the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Queen Lili‘uokalani in 1893. The transcripts of the case fully layout the argument presented by Kaiama.

After arguing the merits of the case, Kaiama states, “I have now been arguing, Your Honor, this motion before judges of the courts of the circuit court and district court throughout the State of Hawai‘i, and nearly—and probably over 20 times, and in not one instance has the plaintiff in the cases challenged the merits of the executive agreement or that the executive agreements have been terminated. Because we believe, respectfully, again, Your Honor, they cannot.” He continues to argue that “it’s irrefutable that these are executive agreements and preempts state law, …which is the state statute that plaintiff relies on in their complaint seeking to confer jurisdiction upon that court,” and “once we have met our burden [of proof], the court cannot have no other, we believe, no other recourse but to dismiss the complaint.” Unable to deny the evidence, Judge Hara replies, “what you’re asking the court to do is commit suicide, because once I adopt your argument, I have no jurisdiction over anything. Not only these kinds of cases…, but jurisdiction of the courts evaporate. All of the courts across the state from the supreme court down, and we have no judiciary. I can’t do that.”

Two issues resonate from Judge Hara’s statement: first, he’s admitting to the veracity of the evidence; and, secondly, he knowingly and deliberately denied the Defendant, Ms. Elaine Kawasaki, and fair and regular trial, and allowed the Plaintiff, Wells Fargo Bank, to proceed to unlawfully seize upon her home. Unfair trials can lead to other crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction that include appropriation of property, both real and personal, which is also called pillaging, and unlawful confinement.

Kawasaki provided notice to Wells Fargo Bank of a defect in her fee-simple title as a result of the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian government, and for Wells Fargo Bank to file an insurance claim with the title insurance company in order to pay off the debt owed. Kawasaki was required by the lender to purchase a lender’s title insurance policy at escrow to protect the lender and have the debt paid off if there exists a defect in the title, which would render the mortgage invalid. A foreclosure process is directly tied to a valid mortgage, and if the mortgage is invalid there can be no foreclosure. Wells Fargo Bank disregarded Kawasaki’s notice and proceeded with the foreclosure in a court that was not regularly constituted.

Hawai‘i War Crimes: Compulsion to Serve in the Occupier’s Military

War crimes are actions taken by individuals, whether military or civilian, that violates international humanitarian law, which includes the 1907 Hague Conventions, 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. War crimes include “grave breaches” of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which also applies to territory that is occupied even if the occupation takes place without resistance. Protected persons under International Humanitarian Law are all nationals who reside within an occupied State, except for the nationals of the Occupying Power. The International Criminal Court and States prosecute individuals for war crimes.

War Crimes: Compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of an Occupying Power

US Recruiting PosterThe United States Selective Service System is an agency of the United States government that maintains information on those potentially subject to military conscription. Under the Military Selective Service Act, “it shall be the duty of every male citizen of the United States, and every other male person residing in the United States, who, on the day or days fixed for the first or any subsequent registration, is between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six, to present himself for and submit to registration at such time or times and place or places, and in such manner, as shall be determined by proclamation of the President and by rules and regulations prescribed hereunder.”

Conscription of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands unlawfully inducted into the United States Armed Forces through the Selective Service System occurred since the First World War to the Vietnam War. The 1907 Hague Convention, V, “Respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in Case of War on Land,” also prohibits the Occupying Power from establishing recruiting stations on the territory of a neutral Occupied State (Article 4).

There were 4,336 residents of the Hawaiian Islands drafted in the United States military during the First World War (September 1917-November 1918) and 32,197 of Hawai‘i’s residents drafted during the Second World War (November 1940-October 1946). There are no statistics available as to the number of Hawai‘i’s residents drafted during the Korean War (June 1950-June 1953) and the Vietnam War (August 1964-February 1973), but there were over 25,000 of Hawai‘i’s residents who served during the Korean War and 13,000 of Hawai‘i’s residents who served during the Vietnam War.

Although induction into the United States Armed Forces has not taken place since February 1973, the requirements to have residents of the Hawaiian Islands who reach the age of 18 to register with the Selective Service System for possible induction is unlawful and therefore war crimes are still being committed. The Selective Service System in the Hawaiian Islands is headquartered on the Island of O’ahu.

Hawai‘i War Crimes: Extensive Appropriation of Property

War crimes are actions taken by individuals, whether military or civilian, that violates international humanitarian law, which includes the 1907 Hague Conventions, 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. War crimes include “grave breaches” of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which also applies to territory that is occupied even if the occupation takes place without resistance. Protected persons under International Humanitarian Law are all nationals who reside within an occupied State, except for the nationals of the Occupying Power. The International Criminal Court and States prosecute individuals for war crimes.

War Crime: Extensive appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly

Between 2002 and 2012, the United States Internal Revenue Service, hereinafter “IRS,” illegally appropriated $74.8 million dollars from the residents of the Hawaiian Islands. During this same period, the government of the State of Hawai‘i additionally appropriated $2.2 billion dollars illegally. The IRS is an agency of the United States of America and cannot appropriate money from the inhabitants of an occupied State without violating international law. The State of Hawai‘i is a political subdivision of the United States of America established by an Act of Congress in 1959 and as an entity without any extraterritorial effect, it couldn’t appropriate money from the inhabitants of an occupied State without violating the international laws of occupation.

According to the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom, taxes upon the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands include: an annual poll tax of $1 dollar to be paid by every male inhabitant between the ages of seventeen and sixty years; an annual tax of $2 dollars for the support of public schools to be paid by every male inhabitant between the ages of twenty and sixty years; an annual tax of $1 dollar for every dog owned; an annual road tax of $2 dollars to be paid by every male inhabitant between the ages of seventeen and fifty; and an annual tax of ¾ of 1% upon the value of both real and personal property.

The Merchant Marine ActJune 5, 1920 (41 U.S. Stat. 988), hereinafter referred to as the Jones Actis a restraint of trade and commerce in violation of international law and treaties between the Hawaiian Kingdom and other foreign States. According to the Jones Act, all goods, which includes tourists on cruise ships, whether originating from Hawai‘i or being shipped to Hawai‘i must be shipped on vessels built in the United States that are wholly owned and crewed by United States citizens. And should a foreign flag ship attempt to unload foreign goods and merchandise in the Hawaiian Islands will have to forfeit its cargo to the to the U.S. Government, or an amount equal to the value of the merchandise or cost of transportation from the person transporting the merchandise.

As a result of the Jones Act, there is no free trade in the Hawaiian Islands. 90% of Hawai‘i’s food is imported from the United States, which has created a dependency on outside food. The three major American ship carriers for the Hawaiian Islands are Matson, Horizon Lines, and Pasha Hawai‘i Transport Services, as well as several low cost barge alternatives. Under the Jones Act, these American carriers travel 2,400 miles to ports on the west coast of the United States in order to reload goods and merchandise delivered from Pacific countries on foreign carriers, which would have otherwise come directly to Hawai‘i ports. The cost of fuel and the lack of competition drive up the cost of shipping and contribute to Hawai‘i’s high cost of living. Gas tax is $.47 per gallon as a result of the Jones Act because only American ship carriers can transport oil to the Hawaiian Islands to be converted into gas. And according to the USDA Food Cost, Hawai‘i residents in January 2012 pay an extra $417 per month for food on a thrifty plan than families who are on a thrifty plan in the United States of America.

Appropriating monies directly through taxation and appropriating monies indirectly as a result of the Jones Act to benefit American ship carriers and businesses is unlawful and therefore are international crimes.

Perfect Title Company – Setting the Record Straight

http://vimeo.com/18738329

With the recent news coverage by the Honolulu Star Advertiser, Perfect Title Company has again reentered mainstream media in the Hawaiian Islands.The video not only provides an accurate history of the formation of the Perfect Title Company and its deliberate and unlawful demise, but also the practical and profound effect it had on the real estate industry.

Since 1893, conveyances of real property could not take place because of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government. That government has not been restored, but instead insurgents who were established through United States intervention on January 17, 1893, were unlawfully maintained in power. A clear break in the chain of title originates since January 17th because the notaries public and the registrar of the Bureau of Conveyances were insurgents and not vested with authority under the Hawaiian Kingdom government.

Title Companies during escrow should have revealed this information to the lenders and buyers, but instead concealed it. Lenders and buyers, however, were protected by title insurance. Before the lender agrees to accept the borrowers property, as collateral to ensure the repayment of the loan, which is called a mortgage, the borrower is required to purchase title insurance in the amount of the money borrowed for the protection of the lender. This requirement is in the event there is a defect in the borrower’s title, which would render the mortgage void, the lender has insurance to cover the remaining amount of the unsecured loan.

Title insurance is an insurance policy that ensures the accuracy of the title search done by a title company. Covered risks in the title insurance policy are defective notaries public and recordation of the deed of conveyance. Title insurance that protects the lender is called a “loan policy,” and for the protection of the homeowner it is called an “owner’s policy.”

All land titles in the Hawaiian Islands are defective.