{"id":3266,"date":"2015-07-10T22:08:02","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T22:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/?p=3266"},"modified":"2015-07-11T02:13:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-11T02:13:00","slug":"state-of-hawaii-is-an-armed-force-under-international-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/state-of-hawaii-is-an-armed-force-under-international-law\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Hawai\u2018i is an Armed Force Under International Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Seal_of_the_State_of_Hawaii\"The State of Hawai\u2018i<\/a> has evaded a precise definition of standing in international law because it has pretended to be a government within the United States, when in fact it is a private organization\u00a0outside of the United States. The U.S. Congress created the State of Hawai\u2018i in 1959 by a Congressional Act, but since Congress is limited to U.S. territory it could not vest the State of Hawai\u2018i with governmental powers outside of its territory in an occupied state. The State of Hawai\u2018i is a private organization that pretends\u00a0to be a government.<\/p>\n

While the State of Hawai\u2018i cannot claim to be a government de jure <\/em>(lawful government)\u00a0or de facto <\/em>(government of a\u00a0successful revolution),<\/em> customary international law defines it\u00a0as an Armed Force for the occupying state. Military manuals define Armed Forces as \u201corganized armed groups which are under a command responsible to that party for the conduct of its subordinates (Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law<\/em>, vol. I<\/a>, 14 (2009).\u201d According to Henckaerts and Doswald-Beck, \u201cthis definition of armed forces covers all persons who fight on behalf of a party to a conflict and who subordinate themselves to its command (Id<\/em>., p. 15),\u201d and that this \u201cdefinition of armed forces builds upon earlier definitions contained in the Hague Regulations and the Third Geneva Convention which sought to determine who are combatants entitled to prisoner-of-war status (Id.).\u201d Article 1 of the 1907 Hague Convention, IV<\/a>, provides that<\/p>\n

\u201cThe laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions: (1) To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; (2) To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance; (3) To carry arms openly; and (4) To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

The laws and customs of war during occupation applies only to territories that come under the authority of either the occupier\u2019s military or an occupier\u2019s Armed Force, such as the State of Hawai\u2018i, and that the \u201coccupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised (1907 Hague Convention, IV, Article 42).\u201d According to Ferraro, \u201coccupation\u2014as a species of international armed conflict\u2014must be determined solely on the basis of the prevailing facts (Tristan Ferraro, Determining the beginning and end of an occupation under international humanitarian law<\/em><\/a>, 94 (no. 885) Int\u2019l Rev Red Cross 133, 134 (Spring 2012).\u201d Although unlawful, it is a fact that the United States created the State of Hawai\u2018i through congressional action and signed into law by its President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1959. It is also a fact that the United States approved the constitution of the State of Hawai\u2018i that provides for its organizational structure.<\/p>\n

As an Armed Force, the State of Hawai\u2018i established its authority over 137 islands (\u201cHawai\u2018i Facts and Figures\u201d (December 2014), State of Hawai\u2018i Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism), \u201ctogether with their appurtenant reefs and territorial and archipelagic waters (State of Hawai\u2018i Constitution, Article XV, section 1<\/a>.\u201d These islands include the major islands of Hawai\u2018i, Maui, O\u2018ahu, Kaua\u2018i, Molokai, Lana\u2018i, Ni\u2018ihau, and Kaho\u2018olawe. It is the effectiveness of the control exercised by the State of Hawai\u2018i over this territory, as an Armed Force for the United States, which triggers the application of occupation law.<\/p>\n

Allegiance to the United States as the Occupying State<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The State of Hawai\u2018i, as an Armed Force, bears its allegiance to the United States where its officials, to include its Governor, take the following oath of office: \u201cI do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties as [\u2026] to best of my ability (Id<\/em>., Article XVI, sec. 4<\/a>).\u201d<\/p>\n

To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A Governor who is elected by U.S. citizens in Hawai\u2018i is head of the State of Hawai\u2018i. The Governor is responsible for the execution of its laws from its legislature and to carry out the decisions by its courts. The Governor is also the \u201ccommander in chief of the armed forces of the State and may call out such forces to execute the laws, suppress or prevent insurrection or lawless violence or repel invasion (Id., Article V, sec. 5<\/a>).\u201d The Governor\u2019s subordinates include all \u201cexecutive and administrative offices, departments and instrumentalities of the state government (Id., sec. 6<\/a>).\u201d<\/p>\n

To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to its constitution, \u201cThe Hawaiian flag shall be the flag of the State (Id<\/em>., Article XV, sec. 3<\/a>).\u201d<\/p>\n

To carry arms openly<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Law enforcement officers of the State of Hawai\u2018i, to include the Sheriff\u2019s Division<\/a>, Department of Land and Natural Resources<\/a>, and the police of the State\u2019s four Counties (Hawai\u2018i<\/a>, Maui<\/a>, Honolulu<\/a>, and Kaua\u2018i<\/a>), all openly carry arms. Also included are the State of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s Army National Guard and Air National Guard<\/a> who openly carry arms while in tactical training.<\/p>\n

To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As the Governor is the commander in chief of the State\u2019s Armed Forces, and is responsible for the suppression or prevention of insurrection or lawless violence, as well as repelling an invasion, the State of Hawai\u2018i is capable of conducting operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war during occupation. The State of Hawai\u2018i Army and Air National Guard are trained in the laws and customs of war<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The State of Hawai\u2018i has evaded a precise definition of standing in international law because it has pretended to be a government within the United States, when in fact it is a private organization\u00a0outside of the United States. The U.S. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-law","category-national"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p31YBQ-QG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3266"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3271,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3266\/revisions\/3271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}