{"id":2981,"date":"2015-04-13T17:44:25","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T17:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/?p=2981"},"modified":"2015-05-28T03:15:55","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T03:15:55","slug":"international-law-prevents-construction-of-the-30-meter-telescope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/international-law-prevents-construction-of-the-30-meter-telescope\/","title":{"rendered":"International Law “Forbids” Construction of the 30-meter Telescope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TMT<\/a><\/p>\n

The position taken by Mauna Kea protectors that the building of the 30-meter telescope is a desecration of sacred land is firmly grounded in international law. Because the Hawaiian Kingdom has been under an illegal and prolonged occupation<\/a> by the United States since the Spanish-American War in 1898, the international laws of occupation apply to Hawai\u2018i\u2019s situation and not United States law.<\/p>\n

International law prohibits a neutral country from being occupied when two or more other countries are at war with each other. In other words, the United States was prohibited from occupying the Hawaiian Kingdom, being an internationally recognized neutral country since 1854, in its war against Spain in 1898. Despite the violation of international law, the laws of occupation mandates the occupier to temporarily administer the laws of the occupied State until the occupation comes to an end.<\/p>\n

During the Spanish-American War the laws of war and occupation of countries were considered customary international law and in 1899, The Hague Conventions codified these laws into four treaties. In 1907, The Hague Conventions were revised into fifteen treaties. The United States ratified all of the Hague Conventions. The 1907 Hague Convention, IV\u2014Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land<\/em><\/a>, applies to Hawai\u2018i\u2019s occupation even if Hawai\u2018i\u00a0is not a war with the United States.<\/p>\n

Article 43<\/a> mandates the occupier \u201cshall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.\u201d In addition, Article 56<\/a> specifically protects \u201cinstitutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, [and] the arts and sciences. All seizure of, destruction or willful damage done to institutions of this character, historic monuments, works of art and science, is forbidden, and should be made the subject of legal proceedings.\u201d The United States military considers violations of the provisions of the Hague Convention, IV, to be war crimes. Section 499 of the U.S. Army FM 27-10\u00a0states, “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.”<\/p>\n

\"Mauna<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mauna Kea protectors have generated worldwide awareness, much through social media, in order to prevent the building of a 30-meter telescope on the revered mountain in the Hawaiian Kingdom called Mauna Kea. Some are calling this the \u201cHawaiian Spring\u201d that has similar traits to the \u201cArab Spring<\/a>\u201d where the younger generation in the Arab world was mobilized through social media to protest and demonstrate against undemocratic rule.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a><\/p>\n

The developers of this would be 18-story telescope is TMT International Observatory (TIO) that was formed in 2014. Presently TIO is a partnership of six international organizations\u2014the California Institute of Technology<\/a> (USA), the National Institutes of Natural Science<\/a> (Japan), the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Science<\/a> (China), the Regents of the University of California<\/a> (USA), the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy<\/a> (Canada), and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics<\/a> (India).<\/p>\n

The proposed development began in 2010. According to the TMT website<\/a>, \u201cTMT completed an Environmental Impact Statement, after 14 community meetings, and it was signed by the Governor of Hawaii. The Cultural Impact Statement, as key part of the document, included consultations with Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners. No groups or individuals challenged the contents or process of this important and required document.\u201d<\/p>\n

TMT also stated that in 2013, \u201cthe Kahu Ku Mauna Council, made up of local Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners approved the University of Hawaii granting a sublease to TMT to build on Mauna Kea. The University of Hawaii Board of Regents, after another public hearing, agreed.\u201d The following year, \u201cthe Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources voted to approve the sublease for the TMT site.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mauna Kea is government land of the Hawaiian Kingdom and in 1848 it came under the administration of the Minister of the Interior under An Act Relating to the Lands of His Majesty the King and of the Government<\/em>. The Act states, \u201cAnd we do hereby appoint the Minister of the Interior and his successors in office, to direct, superintend, and dispose of said lands, as provided in the Act to organize the Executive Departments\u2026 Provided, however, that the Minister of the Interior and his successors in office shall have the power, upon the approval of the King in Privy Council, to dispose of the government lands to Hawaiian subjects, upon such other terms and conditions as to him and the King in Privy Council, may seem best for the promotion of agriculture, and the best interests of the Hawaiian Kingdom.\u201d By an Act in 1854, the Hawaiian Legislature allowed foreign nationals to own property in the Kingdom, but subject to Hawaiian law.<\/p>\n