A State of War Between Hawai‘i and the United States Now at 121 years

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Under international law, war does not only apply to belligerent States, but also applies to neutral States whose territories have been invaded and occupied by one of the belligerents in its course of war with the other belligerent. According to Oppenheim’s International Law (7th ed.), p. 685, “hostilities against a neutral [State] on the part of either belligerent are acts of war, and not mere violations of neutrality. Thus the German attack on Belgium in 1914, to enable German troops to march through Belgian territory and attack France, created war between Germany and Belgium.” While Belgium was occupied by Germany from 1914-1918, Belgium was, for the purposes of international law, also at war with Germany during the occupation.

By the 1839 Treaty of London, Great Britain, Austria, France, the German Confederation, Russia, and the Netherlands recognized Belgium as an independent and perpetual neutral State. Under international law, a neutral State cannot wage war but is limited to the defense of its territory. During World War I, Belgium’s neutrality was violated by Germany in its war against France.

When “neutral territory becomes the region and theatre of war, and is militarily occupied by a belligerent, the occupant does not possess such a wide range of rights with regard to the occupied country and its inhabitants as he possesses in occupied enemy territory,” states Oppenheim, p. 241. “He can indeed resort to all measures which are necessary for the safety of his forces; but he cannot exact contributions or appropriate cash, funds, and realizable securities which are the property of the neutral State.”

Like Belgium, the Hawaiian Kingdom was a neutral State explicitly recognized in its treaties with Spain in 1863 and the Kingdom of Sweden and Norway in 1852. Article 26 of the Hawaiian-Spanish treaty, states “All vessels bearing the flag of Spain, shall, in time of war, receive every possible protection, short of active hostility, within the ports and waters of the Hawaiian Islands, and Her Majesty the Queen of Spain engages to respect, in time of war the neutrality of the Hawaiian Islands.”

On April 25, 1898, war broke out between the United States and Spain, and fighting between the armed forces of both belligerents took place in the Spanish possessions of Guam and the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean, and Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Ocean. The next month, United States naval convoys entered Honolulu harbor to re-coal their ships on their way to fighting in the Philippines. This action taken by the United States naval forces was a direct violation of Hawai‘i’s neutrality under the Hawaiian-Spanish Treaty, which prompted a formal protest by the Spanish Vice-Consul H. Renjes June 1, 1898.

The Spanish protest declared, “In my capacity as Vice Consul for Spain, I have the honor today to enter a formal protest with the Hawaiian Government against the constant violations of Neutrality in this harbor, while actual war exists between Spain and the United States of America.” The last battle was fought on August 13, 1898 when U.S. forces captured the city of Manila, and the war officially ended on December 10, 1898 when a treaty was signed in Paris.

As a result of United States intervention in 1893 and the subsequent creation of a puppet government, calling itself the provisional government and later renaming itself the Republic of Hawai‘i, the United States took complete advantage of its own creation in the islands during the Spanish-American War.

“Puppet governments are organs of the occupant and, as such form a part of his legal order,” explains Krystyna Marek in Identity and Continuity of States in Public International Law (2nd ed.), p. 114. “The agreements concluded by them with the occupant are not genuine international agreements, however correct in form; failing a genuine contracting party, such agreements are merely decrees of the occupant disguised as agreements which the occupant in fact concludes with himself. Their measures and laws are those of the occupant.”

According T.A. Bailey, whose article “The United States and Hawai‘i During the Spanish-American War” was published in The American Historical Review (1931), “The position of the United States was all the more reprehensible in that she was compelling a weak nation to violate international law that had to a large degree been formulated by her own stand on the Alabama claims. Furthermore, in line with the precedent established by the Geneva award, Hawaii would be liable for every cent of damage caused by her dereliction as a neutral, and for the United States to force her into this position was cowardly and ungrateful. At the end of the war, Spain or cooperating power would doubtless occupy Hawaii, indefinitely if not permanently, to insure payment of damages, with the consequent jeopardizing of the defenses of the Pacific Coast.”

Bailey’s reference to the Alabama claims was an international arbitration case between the United States and Great Britain in the city Geneva that centered on Britain’s violation of neutrality by building war ships for the Confederate States in America’s Civil War. One of these ships was called the C.S.S. Alabama. The arbitral tribunal concluded the British violated the international law of neutrality and had to compensate the United States $15.5 million dollars for all damages inflicted by the ships built in Great Britain.

“Although the [Hague] conventions expressly apply only to the occupation of hostile or enemy territory, …it is usually held that they apply also to the forceful occupation of neutral territory,” says Gerhard von Glahn in The Occupation of Enemy Territory, p. 12. “Thus provisions of the applicable articles should have been mandatory in their application to the German occupation of Denmark, Norway, and other countries neutral at the time of their invasion by the forces of the Third Reich.”

In 1893, President Grover Cleveland reported to the Congress ““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 that time was undisputed and was both the de facto and the de jure government.”

Failing to carry out the executive agreement of December 18, 1893 to reinstate the Hawaiian Kingdom government negotiated between U.S. Ambassador Albert Willis and Queen Lili‘uokalani, the United States allowed their puppet government calling itself the provisional government to remain in existence. On July 4, 1894, the name was changed to the Republic of Hawai‘i, then renamed to the Territory of Hawai‘i on April 30, 1900, and then the State of Hawai‘i on March 18, 1959.

Since the admitted “act of war” was committed by the United States on January 16, 1893, the Hawaiian Kingdom has been in a state of war with the United States now going on for 121 years. This is the longest state of war between States in the history of international law since the Thirty Years’ War that established international law as we know it today through the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia.

Despite the prolonged and illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom, international law provides for its continued existence, especially in light of its legal status as a neutral State, and the failure of the United States to comply with international law, the international laws of occupation and international humanitarian laws. The Proclamation of the acting Council of Regency provides the legal foundation for the United States’ compliance to international law in light of 121 years of violation.

Proclamation Decreeing Provisional Laws

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On October 10, 2014, the acting Council of Regency has decreed, by Proclamation, provisional laws for the Kingdom that are subject to ratification by the Legislative Assembly, in order to provide the proper legal foundation for the United States administration of Hawaiian Kingdom laws in compliance with the international law of occupation (Article 43, 1907 Hague Convention IV). Since 1898, when the Hawaiian Kingdom was occupied during the Spanish-American War, the United States has violated international law by not administering the laws of the occupied State. This violation has consequently placed the Hawaiian Kingdom today into a state of emergency and a fragile state of economic ruination because currently all laws that are being followed in these islands are not laws at all because they emanate from unlawful legislatures since July 6, 1887, which was the beginning of the insurgency that led to the unlawful landing of U.S. troops on January 16, 1893, and other self-declared legislatures since, to include the provisional government (1893-1894), Republic of Hawai‘i (1894-1900), the Territory of Hawai‘i (1900-1959) and the State of Hawai‘i (1959-present).

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, the armed forces of the United States of America have invaded and occupied the shores of the Hawaiian Islands on two separate occasions, the first being from January 16, 1893 to April 1, 1893, and the second since August 12, 1898 to the present, whereby the latter being an illegal and prolonged occupation; and

WHEREAS, the armed forces of the United States of America on January 17, 1893 aided and abetted a small group of insurgents in seizing the Executive office of the Hawaiian Kingdom government and thereafter participated in the coercion of all government employees and officials in the executive and judicial branches of the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom to sign oaths of allegiance to the insurgency calling themselves the so-called provisional government; and

WHEREAS, United States President Grover Cleveland concluded, through a presidential investigation, that the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government was unlawful, and that the United States bears the sole responsibility for the overthrow of the government of a friendly State, and provide restitution; and

WHEREAS, executive mediation took place between United States Minister Plenipotentiary Albert Willis and Her Majesty Queen Lili‘uokalani beginning on November 13, 1893, at the United States Legation in the city of Honolulu, and on December 18, 1893 an agreement was reached through exchange of notes committing the United States to reinstate the government, and thereafter the Hawaiian Kingdom to grant amnesty to the insurgents; and

WHEREAS, United States President Cleveland and his successors in office failed to faithfully execute the agreement and allowed the insurgency to gain power through the hiring of American mercenaries in order to seek annexation to the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, during the Spanish-American War, the armed forces of the United States of America unlawfully invaded and occupied the Hawaiian Islands on August 12, 1898, being a neutral State, to wage war against the Spanish colonies of the Philippines and Guam in the Pacific Ocean; and

WHEREAS, since the second occupation, the armed forces of the United States of America have not complied with international law, the international laws of occupation, both customary and by conventions, and international humanitarian law; and

WHEREAS, the armed forces of the United States of America under the guise of civilian authority seized control of the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom calling itself the so-called Republic of Hawai‘i, being the successor to the provisional government, and renamed the same as the government of the Territory of Hawai‘i on April 30, 1900, and then subsequently renamed as the government of the State of Hawai‘i on March 18, 1959; and

WHEREAS, the so-called provisional government, the Republic of Hawai‘i, the Territory of Hawai‘i, and the State of Hawai‘i have no legal basis under Hawaiian Kingdom law or the international laws of occupation; and

WHEREAS, the occupant State has unlawfully levied pecuniary contributions of various kinds that included taxes and the imposition of fines in violation of international law; and

WHEREAS, the occupant State has unlawfully seized public and private property for the construction of its government agencies and military installations from the occupied State and its inhabitants, and that restoration and compensation shall be made under jus post liminii; and

WHEREAS, the failure of the armed forces of the United States of America to administer the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom as it stood prior to the insurrection of July 6, 1887 has placed the Hawaiian Kingdom into a state of emergency that could lead to economic ruination and calamity; and

WHEREAS, war crimes have and continue to be committed as a result of the failure of the armed forces of the United States of America to administer the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom in accordance with the 1907 Hague Regulations and the 1949 Geneva Convention IV; and

WHEREAS, customary international law recognizes that the rules on belligerent occupation will also apply where a belligerent State, in the course of war, occupies neutral territory, being the territory of the Hawaiian Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, customary international law recognizes that when neutral territory is militarily occupied by a belligerent, the occupant State does not possess a wide range of rights with regard to the occupied State and its inhabitants as it would in occupied enemy territory; and

WHEREAS, customary international law recognizes that legislative power remains with the government of the occupied State during military occupation of the occupied State’s territory; and

WHEREAS, Her late Majesty Queen Lili‘uokalani died on November 11, 1917, without an heir apparent proclaimed in accordance with Article 22 of the 1864 Constitution, as amended; and

WHEREAS, it is provided by Article 33 of the Constitution that should a Monarch die without confirming an heir apparent in accordance with Hawaiian law, the Cabinet Council shall serve as an acting Council of Regency who shall administer the Government in the name of the Monarch, and exercise all the Powers which are constitutionally vested in the Monarch, until the Legislative Assembly may be assembled to elect by ballot a de jure Regent or Council of Regency; and

WHEREAS, according to Article 42 of the Constitution, the Cabinet Council consists of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General of the Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, an acting Regency, by virtue of the offices made vacant in the Cabinet Council, was established under the doctrine of necessity by proclamation on February 28, 1997, pursuant to Article 33 of the Constitution and possesses the constitutional authority to temporarily exercise the Royal Power of the Hawaiian Kingdom under Article 32; and

WHEREAS, the Legislative Assembly is unable to be assembled in accordance with Title 3—Of the Legislative Department, Civil Code of the Hawaiian Islands (Compiled Laws, 1884), in order to elect by ballot a de jure Regent or Council of Regency as a direct result of the prolonged occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom by the armed forces of the United States of America and the Rules of Land Warfare of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the public safety requires:

NOW, THEREFORE, WE, the acting Council of Regency of the Hawaiian Kingdom, serving in the absence of the Monarch and temporarily exercising the Royal Power of the Kingdom, do hereby acknowledge that acts necessary to peace and good order among the citizenry and residents of the Hawaiian Kingdom, such for example, as acts sanctioning and protecting marriage and the domestic relations, governing the course of descents, regulating the conveyance and transfer of property, real and personal, and providing remedies for injuries to person and estate, and other similar acts, which would be valid if emanating from a lawful government, must be regarded in general as valid when proceeding from an actual, though unlawful government, but acts in furtherance or in support of rebellion or collaborating against the Hawaiian Kingdom, or intended to defeat the just rights of the citizenry and residents under the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and other acts of like nature, must, in general, be regarded as invalid and void;

AND, WE do hereby proclaim that from the date of this proclamation all laws that have emanated from an unlawful legislature since the insurrection began on July 6, 1887 to the present, to include United States legislation, shall be the provisional laws of the Realm subject to ratification by the Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Kingdom once assembled, with the express proviso that these provisional laws do not run contrary to the express, reason and spirit of the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom prior to July 6, 1887, the international laws of occupation and international humanitarian law, and if it be the case they shall be regarded as invalid and void;

AND, WE do hereby further proclaim that the currency of the United States shall be a legal tender at their nominal value in payment for all debts within this Kingdom pursuant to An Act To Regulate the Currency (1876);

AND, WE do hereby call upon the said Commander of the United States Pacific Command, and those subordinate military personnel to whom he may delegate such authority to seize control of our government, calling itself the State of Hawai‘i, by proclaiming the establishment of a military government, during the present prolonged military occupation and until the military occupation has ended, to exercise those powers allowable under the international laws of occupation and international humanitarian law;

AND, WE do require all persons, whether subjects of this kingdom, or citizens or subjects of any foreign State, while within the limits of this kingdom, to obey promptly and fully, in letter and in spirit, such proclamations, rules, regulations and orders, as the military government may issue during the present military occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom so long as these proclamations, rules, regulations and orders are in compliance with the laws and provisional laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the international laws of occupation and international humanitarian law;

AND, WE do further require that all courts of the Hawaiian Kingdom, whether judicial or administrative, shall administer the provisional laws hereinbefore proclaimed forthwith;

AND, WE do further require that Consular agents of foreign States within the territory of the Hawaiian Kingdom shall comply with Article X, Chapter VIII, Title 2—Of the Administration of Government, Civil Code of the Hawaiian Islands (Compiled Laws, 1884) and the Law of Nations;

AND, WE do further require every person now holding any office of profit or emolument under the State of Hawai‘i and its Counties, being the Hawaiian government, take and subscribe the oath of allegiance in accordance with An Act to Provide for the Taking of the Oath of Allegiance by Persons in the employ of the Hawaiian Government (1874).

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, We have hereunto set our hand, and caused the Great Seal of the Kingdom to be affixed this 10th day of October A.D. 2014.

[SEAL]

David Keanu Sai, Ph.D.
Chairman of the acting Council of Regency
Acting Minister of the Interior

Peter Umialiloa Sai,
Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs

Kau‘i P. Sai-Dudoit,
Acting Minister of Finance

Dexter Ke‘eaumoku Ka‘iama, Esq.,
Acting Attorney General

King Kalakaua Visits Thomas Edison in New York City in 1881

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The Sun_Cover_1881The Sun_Cover_1881_Kalakaua_Article

The New York Sun newspaper on September 26, 1881 reported:

KalakauaKing Kalakaua was introduced to Mr. Thomas A. Edison at the latter’s headquarters, in Fifth avenue, at 9 o’clock last night. Mr. George Jones, the proprietor of the Times, met his Majesty in Vienna, and when the conversation turned upon the electric light, Mr. Jones promised to introduce the King to the electrician when met in New York. At 9 o’clock Mr. Edison was in an upper room at work. A half dozen friends and assistants were with him. The electric lights were burning throughout the building. A carriage rumbled up to the curb, and in an instant the King, Mr. Jones, Attorney General Armstrong, and one or two other entered. They were shown into a rear room, and as they stood there, looking at the chandelier, Edison came in. His hair was tousled in every direction. As he entered he ran his hand nervously through his hair, as if conscious that it was discorded, and thus made it worse. Mr. Jones introduced him to the King, and he nodded rather than bowed, at the same time extending one hand absent-mindedly, first at Mr. Jones and then at the monarch, who took it, and looked smilingly into the boyish face of the inventor.

“I have heard about you, Mr. Edison,” said his Majesty, “and I have wished to see you and your wonderful inventions.”

The King has gained a decidedly English intonation since his last visit, and the melodious voice that he possesses, in common with the people of his kingdom, renders that intonation more than usually agreeable. He was dressed in black, relieved only by his white collar, the horseshoe of brilliant diamonds on his scarf, and his white cuffs.

Thomas EdisonEdison exhibited his light, turning one burner up and down, and then putting all out at once and instantly relighting them. The King was interested. Attorney-General Armstrong says that his Majesty is especially interested in the electric light, because his capital, Honolulu, must be lighted soon by something superior to the kerosene now employed there. The monarch is undecided whether the new illuminator shall be gas or electricity, but has resolved to wait until electricity has had a full and practical trial. The King saw Edison’s representative in Paris and learned much from him. Last night there was an awkward pause after the King had complimented Edison and Edison had nodded back his thanks. Everybody felt a little uncomfortable. The King broke the spell by suddenly asking: “How do you produce those carbon arcs?”

Instantly the electrician was at home, and he launched out into a description of his lamp, couched in homely language, and illustrated with bits of wire and portions of his apparatus. He and the King were left together, and the others stood apart. Presently some ladies came in softly, and, getting behind the others, saw royalty deferring to genius. Edison was so interested that he occasionally left the King’s side to correct what he heard others saying, and once he left his Majesty all alone, holding a picture and not knowing what to do with it. The King is a good listener and appeared to be interested. He asked practical and sensible questions. He was astonished to hear that Edison was going to sell power as well as light. He said he had not heard of that before. He was amazed at Edison’s maps of the business districts, peppered all over with dots, each of which represented a gas burner wherever there is a gas burner, and at other maps covered with parallelograms of varying sizes, representing the amount of horse power in use in the same localities.

“Can you lay your wires in submarine cables?” Attorney-General Armstrong asked.

“Well, it would cost so much, that’s all,” Edison replied.

“Because you might come over to the Sandwich Islands,” the King’s advisor said, “where we have a volcano that burns a thousand million tons of coal a day, and you could put your boilers on top of the volcano and get power enough to supply the country.”

“Is that where you get your coal?” Edison asked, overlooking the joke in his thirst for information.

“No; we get our coal from Australia,” said the Attorney-General,” but we build great hopes on that volcano. When we sell out we expect to get more for that than for anything we have got.”

At this the King laughed heartily. He went through the building with Edison and watched the inventor with unaffected curiosity. He was astonished to hear that the carbon horseshoes gradually became so hard by burning that they will cut glass like a diamond. The King suggested that this information would be prized by the ladies. Up stairs, where there is a burner over a compositor’s type case, the King was show a book to illustrate the steadiness and gentleness of the light. The conversation turned upon the Hawaiian language, which the Attorney-General told Edison was extremely soft and musical. Edison said he should like to hear it, and the King was prevailed upon to say something in Hawaiian. The King proved bashful. He hesitated a moment,

“I say to you,” he said, “Ho-e ke-low-a—that means ‘How are you?’”

“I know the words ‘Mauna Loa,’” Edison said.

“The language is full of the vowel sound,” said Gen. Armstrong, “It has only thirteen letters.”

“Twelve,” said the King.

“Twelve,” said Gen. Armstrong: “all the vowels and a few consonants.”

The King went with Edison down stairs to the engine room, and Edison showed him the dynamo machine and motor. After that the King thanked the inventor, said he had been greatly interested, shook hands with him, and, with Mr. Jones and the others, quitted the building.

In the morning the King and Lord High Chamberlain Judd had been to Irvington, where they spent the day with Mr. Mason, an old resident of the Sandwich Islands. They returned to the city in the evening. The King has received many calls at the Brunswick. The visitors have been mainly persons who have been in the Sandwich Islands or people whom he met on his travels. He has declined a number of social invitations out of respect to the national distress.

U.S. Department of Justice Acknowledges War Crimes Being Committed in Hawai‘i

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Under the criminal code of the United States of America, Title 18 U.S.C. §4, provides for the reporting of felonies to federal authorities, whether civil or military, as a duty and not a choice. According to Black’s Law Dictionary (1996), a duty is defined as an obligation “to conform to legal standard of reasonable conduct in light of apparent risk.” A person who fails to report a felony as soon as possible risks being fined or face up to three years in prison, which is a felony as well. In other words, failure to report a felony is a felony.

On September 17, 2014, Professor Williamson Chang, senior law professor at the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law, reported the commission of war crimes to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C. Professor Chang held a press conference on September 22, 2014 at the University of Hawai‘i in front of the William S. Richardson School of Law. Although American media in the United States and Hawai‘i were notified by press release of the press conference, none were present, and the press conference was covered by Kingdom Media Hawai‘i. The story was then picked up by ABC Australia news and radio and New Zealand’s radio The Wire. ABC Australia reported:

ABC Radio Australia War Crimes

In his letter to the Attorney General, Professor Chang stated, “Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §4—Misprision of felony, I am legally obligated to report to you the knowledge I have about multiple felonies that prima facie have been and continue to be committed here in the Hawaiian Islands. I have been made aware of these felonies through the memorandum by political scientist David Keanu Sai, Ph.D., who was contracted by the State of Hawai‘i Office of Hawaiian Affairs, entitled Memorandum for Ka Pouhana, CEO of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs regarding Hawai‘i as an Independent State and the Impacts it has on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.” Professor Chang’s letter was endorsed with the signatures of seventeen other State of Hawai‘i officials and employees.

The U.S. Attorney General received Professor Chang’s reporting of war crimes on September 19, 2014 by FedEx courier under tracking number 8061 7191 0836.

“Further, as a State of Hawai‘i employee, I and other State officials and employees receive State monies that have been implicated as being gained through the commission of felonies, namely the war crime of pillaging,” stated Professor Chang. Under 18 U.S.C. §662, receiving stolen property is a felony punishable by a fine or up to three years in prison. Receiving stolen property has four elements that need to be met in order to be considered a crime: (1) the property must be received; (2) it must have been previously stolen; (3) the person receiving the property must know it was stolen; and (4) the receiver must intend to deprive the owner of his or her property.

Professor Chang’s reporting of war crimes, being felonies under 18 U.S.C. §2441, to the DOJ effectively placed a corresponding obligation upon the U.S. Attorney General to either initiate a criminal investigation into the reported felonies, or explicitly state that felonies have not been committed thereby removing the apparent risk of a fine or up to three years in prison under both §4—misprision of felony, and §662—receiving stolen property.

Professor Chang stated, “If your office’s response in two weeks is able to refute the evidence provided for in the Memo, then assuredly the felonies—war crimes—have not been committed. But if you office is not able to refute the evidence, then this is a matter for the U.S. Pacific Command, being the occupying power, and all State of Hawai‘i officials and employees, as well as I, are compelled to comply with Hawaiian Kingdom law and the law of occupation.” The U.S. Attorney General was requested to respond by October 3, 2014.

The U.S. Department of Justice has not responded to Professor Chang’s reporting within the requested time of two weeks, which expired yesterday. The DOJ’s silence on the reporting is acquiescence or acknowledgment that war crimes have and continue to be committed in Hawai‘i. According to Black’s Law Dictionary (1996), acquiescence is “equivalent to assent inferred from silence with knowledge or from encouragement and presupposes knowledge and assent.” Bouvier’s Law Dictionary (1984) also defines acquiescence as “a silent appearance of consent.” Specifically, the silence of the DOJ admits there is evidence of the commission of war crimes and that it “is a matter for the U.S. Pacific Command, being the occupying power,” and not the DOJ.

In order to refute Professor Chang’s reporting that the State of Hawai‘i government committed war crimes of pillaging by illegally appropriating monies from the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands, would be for the DOJ to show evidence that the United States is the successor to the Hawaiian Kingdom under international law and that the State of Hawai‘i, being an extension of the United States government, is a lawful government and legally authorized to collect taxes.

In Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom arbitral award, the international tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration stated “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.” This acknowledgment of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s status as a State under international law by an international tribunal is called “presumptive evidence,” which Black’s Law Dictionary (1996) defines as “evidence which must be received and treated as true and sufficient until and unless rebutted by other evidence.”

According to Professor James Crawford, in his book The Creation of States in International Law (2006), p. 34, “There is a strong presumption that the State continues to exist, with its rights and obligations, despite revolutionary changes in government, or despite a period in which there is no, or no effective, government. Belligerent occupation does not affect the continuity of the State, even where there exists no government claiming to represent the occupied State.” Professor Crawford is the leading expert in State sovereignty under international and he also served as President of the Arbitral Tribunal in the Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom arbitration case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The fundamental problem for the DOJ is that there is no treaty where the Hawaiian Kingdom ceded its sovereignty and territory to the United States. The only claim the United States has over the Hawaiian Islands is that the Congress says it annexed the Hawaiian Islands in 1898 and then later created the State of Hawai‘i government in 1959. It is undisputed that Congress has no effect beyond its borders, so the U.S. Congress could no more annex Hawai‘i and create a State of Hawai‘i government by enacting statutes, than it could annex Canada and create a State of Canada government by enacting statutes. There is no treaty, which is evidence under international law that would rebut the evidence of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s continued existence as an independent and sovereign State under international law. Without extinguishing the Hawaiian Kingdom under international law, the United States presence in the Hawaiian Islands is a situation of military occupation, which is regulated by the international laws of occupation and international humanitarian law.

As a federal agency of the United States government, the DOJ is limited to investigating the violation of federal criminal laws that occur within the territory of the United States. The DOJ does not have extra-territorial authority, and nor do federal statutes, which includes §2441. Since the DOJ acquiesced to the evidence that Hawai‘i is not a part of the territory of the United States as provided in Dr. Sai’s Memo for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which Professor Chang relied on for his reporting of felonies, the investigation of war crimes now falls upon the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command who is the occupying power in Hawai‘i.

§2441 states “Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime…shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.” According to the House Report 104-698 that accompanied the War Crimes Act of 1996 under the heading Current Prosecutability Under United States Law of Individuals for “Grave Breaches” of the Geneva Conventions and the Impact of H.R. 3680, “Military tribunals—or commissions—have been used widely by the United States from the Mexican-American War to the Civil War to World War II to prosecute criminals and to provide a system of justice in lands occupied by our armed forces.”

The House Report continued to state, “Military commissions were most recently used during and immediately following World War II to prosecute German and Japanese war criminals and to provide a legal system for occupied areas,” and that “American military commissions have generally prosecuted individuals whose acts were committed in lands occupied by our military.” Since the Hawaiian Kingdom has been under an illegal and prolonged occupation by the armed forces of the United States, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command is primarily responsible for the United States presence and its compliance with international law and the law of occupation.

According to U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10, section 498, “any person, whether a member of the armed forces or a civilian, who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefor and liable to punishment. Section 449, which has a more expansive definition of war crimes than 18 U.S.C. §2441, “the term ‘war crime’ is the technical expression for a violation of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. Every violation of the law of war is a war crime.” And according to section 500, “Conspiracy, direct incitement, and attempts to commit, as well as complicity in the commission of war crimes are punishable.”

UPDATE: Professor Chang receives letter from Department of Justice regarding the reporting of war crimes.

DOJ Reply Ltr to Prof Chang

New Zealand Radio Station “The Wire” Interviews Dr. Keanu Sai

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95bFM The Wire

Nick Bond of 95bFM – The Wire, an independent radio station in Auckland, New Zealand, interviewed Dr. Keanu Sai.

Most people would say that the United States of America has 50 states, and that Hawai‘i is one of them. But Hawaiian academic Dr. Keanu Sai says otherwise. Sai says that Hawai‘i was never legally annexed to the United States, and has been illegally occupied for the past 121 years. Wire producer Nick Bond asks Sai whether Hawai‘i really is a nation under occupation.

To listen to the interview of Dr. Keanu Sai click here.

State of Hawai‘i Hawaiian Homes Commissioner “Uncle Joe” Tassil Calls for Moratorium on all Evictions in Hawaiian Homes because of War Crimes

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSIONER “UNCLE JOE” TASSIL CALLS FOR MORATORIUM ON ALL EVICTIONS IN HAWAIIAN HOMES

9/22/2014

RENWICK_TASSILLAt Hawaiian Homes hearing at Paukukalo 10:00 a.m. this morning, “Uncle Joe” Tassil called for a moratorium of all evictions in Hawaiian Homes until the Justice Department responds to a letter authored by Dr. Chang, Professor of Law at UH which letter was premised upon a letter and memorandum drafted by Dr. Keanu Sai, Ph.D. regarding the current existence of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the unlawful occupation by the United States in Hawai’i. Attorney Dexter Kaiama testified on behalf of qualified Hawaiian Beneficiaries as to Department of Hawaiian Homelands, a state agency’s, lack of jurisdiction.  Christopher Fishkin, a legal assistant to a law office in Wailuku, testified separately, to numerous violations of Federal law by DHHL and violations of the rights of qualified Hawaiian beneficiaries pursuant to the Federal law. Fishkin also encouraged the Commissioners to adopt Commissioner Tassil’s recommendation of a moratorium of evictions, to review and address the violations of Hawaiians’ rights in Hawaiian Homes which Fishkin asserted were being perpetuated against qualified Hawaiian beneficiaries under the color of state law.

Representative of Habitat for Humanity and solar energy providers to Hawaiian Homes testified as to lengthy delays in their being able to provide services to Hawaiians in Hawaiian Homes and unclear contractual obligations in order to do so.

Contact Commissioner Joe Tassil for more info. 808-664-6901

Kingdom Media Hawai‘i Live Stream of Professor Chang’s Press Conference

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Kindgom Media HI

Kingdom Media Hawai‘i will be providing a live stream of Professor Chang’s press conference at the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law. The press conference will begin at 2:00 pm in front of the Law School’s administration building across from the Law Library.

UPDATE: Due to technical difficulties the live streaming was not able to take place. Kingdom Media Hawai‘i, however, did record the press conference and will be playing it on its website.

https://vimeo.com/107008784

Senior Law Professor Reports War Crimes to U.S. Attorney General

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Conference at William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Monday, September 22, 2014, at 2:00 pm

University of Hawai‘i’s senior law professor notifies U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, Jr., of war crimes committed in the Hawaiian Islands

Professor ChangHONOLULU (September 19, 2014) – Senior law professor Williamson B.C. Chang has reported to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. that war crimes have and continue to be committed in the Hawaiian Islands. Professor Chang is a faculty member of the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law and has been with the law school for the past thirty-eight years.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ (OHA) top executive, CEO Kamanaopono Crabbe, contracted political scientist, Dr. Keanu Sai, to draft a memorandum on the legal status of Hawai‘i under international law. Based on information Sai disclosed in what has become known as the OHA Memo, CEO Crabbe authored a letter to Secretary of State, John Kerry. Crabbe sought legal clarification on the status of Hawai‘i from Secretary Kerry primarily because Sai concluded that OHA is in possession of monies acquired from the “State of Hawai‘i’s” general fund through pillaging.

Pillaging is prohibited under article 33 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, IV, being a war crime under U.S. federal criminal law as well as a felony. According to 18 U.S.C. §2441 “Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime…shall be fined under the this title or imprisoned for life or any number of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.”

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has defined pillaging, which is the same as plunder, as “the fraudulent appropriation of public and private funds belonging to…the opposing party.” According to the OHA Memo, the State of Hawai‘i is not a legitimate government under international law and as a self-declared entity it has no authority to collect taxes from individuals throughout the Hawaiian Islands. This fraudulent collection of monies is a form of pillaging from public property that belongs to the Hawaiian Kingdom, not the United States.

Eric_HolderIn the letter addressed to Attorney General Holder, Professor Chang described his reporting of war crimes as being obligated under Federal criminal law and if he did not report the war crimes he could be fined or imprisoned for three years. “Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §4—Misprision of felony, I am legally obligated to report to you the knowledge I have about multiple felonies that prima facie have been and continue to be committed here in the Hawaiian Islands,” Chang said. “I have been made aware of these felonies through the memorandum by political scientist David Keanu Sai, Ph.D., who was contracted by the State of Hawai‘i Office of Hawaiian Affairs, entitled Memorandum for Ka Pouhana, CEO of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs regarding Hawai‘i as an Independent State and the Impacts it has on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.”

Chang explained the action taken was not only prompted by a legal obligation, but also because he’s a State of Hawai‘i employee. “I and other State officials and employees receive State monies that have been implicated as being gained through the commission of felonies, namely the war crime of pillaging, and we could also face prosecution under 18 U.S.C. §3—Accessory after the fact,” Chang said. “I am deeply concerned about this matter that affects all State of Hawai‘i officials and employees, including myself personally.”

Due to the urgency of the matter Chang’s letter asks for a response from the Department of Justice within two weeks. If the Department of Justice’s “response in two weeks is able to refute the evidence provided for in the Memo, then assuredly the felonies—war crimes—have not been committed,” Chang said. The letter goes on to say, “But if your office is not able to refute the evidence, then this is a matter for the U.S. Pacific Command, being the occupying power, and all State of Hawai‘i officials and employees, as well as I, are compelled to comply with Hawaiian Kingdom law and the law of occupation.”

Chang’s letter was also carbon copied to the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command headquartered at Camp Smith, Island of O‘ahu, and to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

The press conference will be located in front of the Administration building across from the Law Library. Parking is provided in the parking structure behind the law school at $5.00.

Joining Professor Chang at Monday’s press conference will be some of the 17 State of Hawaii employees from the University of Hawaii, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Public Safety, the Maui Fire Department, and the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, who endorsed the letter. Dr. Sai will also be at the press conference.

Click here to download Professor Chang’s letter.
Click here to download the OHA Memo.

Hawaiian Gazette Reports Americanization Program for Schools in Hawai‘i

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Hawaiian Gazette

Patriotic_Program_Article

On April 3, 1906, the Hawaiian Gazette reported on page 6:

“As a means of inculcating patriotism in the schools, the Board of Education has agreed upon a plan of patriotic observance to be followed in the celebration of notable days in American history, this plan being a composite drawn from the several submitted by teachers in the department for the consideration of the Board. It will be remembered that at the time of the celebration of the birthday of Benjamin Franklin, an agitation was begun looking to a better observance of these notable national holidays in the schools, as tending to inculcate patriotism in a school population that needed that kind of teaching, perhaps, more than the mainland children do–although patriotism is inculcated in the schools there, also.

The matter was taken up by the school department, at once, and the teachers were asked to submit their views upon it. The result is embodied in the “patriotic program” printed herewith, which represents the best educational thought of the Territory. The program follows, and will be sent out officially in pamphlet form as a guide to teachers in the observance of national days in the schools.”

The term “inculcate” is defined as “to cause something to be learned by someone by repeating it again and again.” This is another word for “indoctrination” that is defined as “the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or a professional methodology (see doctrine). It is often distinguished from education by the fact that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned.”

To download the full article click here.

To download the Patriotic Program pamphlet click here.

According to the U.S. Library of Congress’ “Chronicling America“:

“The Hawaiian Gazette was a fervent advocate of the sugar industry and other American economic interests in Hawai‘i. Early on, these interests were in line with those of the Hawaiian monarchy; as such, the Hawaiian Gazette became the official newspaper of the Kingdom in 1865 under King Kamehameha V and was published by James H. Black and the Hawaiian government until 1873. In the mid-1870s, the paper turned decidedly anti-monarchy when the views of King Kalākaua and those of the local oligarchy–a powerful contingent of pro-American, pro-annexation sugar interests–began to diverge. The Hawaiian Gazette attacked Kalākaua’s government for what it regarded as wasteful spending on the King’s coronation ceremony and efforts to revive public performances of Hawaiian chanting and hula. It avidly supported the call for a new government, which was achieved in 1887 when the Bayonet Constitution effectively stripped the king of his power and secured the oligarchy’s political authority. At that time, the Hawaiian Gazette resumed its place as one of the government’s biggest advocates; indeed, several high-ranking members of the oligarchy, including William R. Castle and Sanford B. Dole, would oversee the newspaper in years to come. In January 1893, the paper was among several that refused to print Queen Liliu‘okalani’s protest against the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and painted her efforts to reestablish the Kingdom’s authority as illegal and counterrevolutionary. Following the Queen’s overthrow on January 17, 1893, the Hawaiian Gazette published the proclamation and orders of the new Provisional Government and began referring to Liliu‘okalani as Hawai‘i’s ‘ex-Queen.’ Two weeks later, the paper asserted that it, together with the Pacific Commercial Advertiser , “contained the only true and extended account of the late revolution”and encouraged readers to sign the Provisional Government’s loyalty oath.”