{"id":6762,"date":"2023-12-14T10:59:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T20:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/?p=6762"},"modified":"2023-12-15T12:46:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T22:46:43","slug":"polish-journal-of-political-science-publishes-book-review-of-the-royal-commission-of-inquirys-ebook-on-investigating-war-crimes-and-human-rights-violations-committed-in-the-hawaiian-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/polish-journal-of-political-science-publishes-book-review-of-the-royal-commission-of-inquirys-ebook-on-investigating-war-crimes-and-human-rights-violations-committed-in-the-hawaiian-kingdom\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish Journal of Political Science Publishes Book Review of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s eBook on Investigating War Crimes and Human Rights Violations Committed in the Hawaiian Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Awareness of the American occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom is spreading in academic circles throughout Europe. In 2022, the Polish Journal of Political Science<\/a><\/strong><\/em> published a book review by Dr. Anita Budziszewska<\/a><\/strong> of the Royal Commission on Inquiry: Investigating War Crimes and Human Rights Violations Committed in the Hawaiian Kingdom<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Budziszewska is a faculty member of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Warsaw. In the years 2011-2020 she served as the coordinator for mobility, exchange and international cooperation at the IIR UW and at the WNPiSM UW. During the years 2016-2020 served as the Plenipotentiary of the Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies for international cooperation under the Erasmus+ program (European Union).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Budziszewska was member of the Polish mission to the United Nations during the 43rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva (43rd session of UN HRC). In 2020-2021 external expert of the project Polska360 organized\/financed by the Kresy RP. Foundation and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland. She conducts classes on Elements of Diplomatic Protocol as part of the training organized by the Polish Olympic Committee and the Polish Corporation of Sports Managers. Member of the Organizing Committee of 8th Pan-European Congress of International Relations in Warsaw (2013) co-organized with the European International Studies Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Budziszewska completed scientific and professional internship, e.g. at the Polish Representation to the United Nations Office in Geneva. Study and training stays, among others, at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the University of Zurich and the University of Oxford. International speeches, lectures and papers abroad, e.g. in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Croatia, Hungary and the UK. Member of the European Research Network on Philanthropy, International Studies Association and European International Studies Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here follows her book review that was published in volume 8, issue 2 of the Polish Journal of Political Science<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subject of review here is the multi-author publication Investigating War Crimes and Human Rights Violations Committed in the Hawaiian Kingdom<\/em>, edited by Dr. David Keanu Sai, Head of the Hawaiian Royal Commission of Inquiry, published in 2020. The book is divided into three parts, i.e. Part 1 Investigating war crimes and human rights violations committed in the Hawaiian Kingdom<\/em>; Part 2 The prolonged occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom<\/em>; and Part 3 Hawaiian law, treaties with foreign states and international humanitarian law<\/em>. This final part represents a collection of source documents in such fields as Hawaiian law, but also international-law treaties with foreign states (in fact 18 including the USA)\u2014dating back to the 19th century. A selection of treaties from the sphere of international humanitarian law has also been made and included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essence of the publication nevertheless resides in its two first parts, in which the authors offer an in-depth treatment of the complicated long-time relationship between Hawaii and the United States. Nevertheless, the thesis pursued here overall is the straightforward one that Hawaii has been occupied illegally and incorporated into the United States unlawfully, with that occupation continu\u00ading to the present day and needing to be understood in such terms. The authors also pursue the dif\u00adficult thread of the story relating to war crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above main assumption of the book is emphasised from the very beginning of Part 1, which is preceded by the text of the Proclamation Establishing the Royal Commission of Inquiry, recalling that that Commission was established to \u201censure a full and thorough investigation into the violations of international humanitarian law and human rights within the territorial jurisdiction of the Hawai\u00adian Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the main aim of the above institution as called into being has been to pursue any and all of\u00adfences and violations in the spheres of humanitarian law, human rights and war crimes committed by the Americans in the course of their occupation of Hawaii\u2014which is given to have begun on 17 January 1893.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presented next is the genesis and history of the Commission\u2019s activity described by its aforementioned Head\u2014Dr. David Keanu Sai. He presents the Commission\u2019s activity in detail, by reference to concrete examples; with this part going on to recreate the entire history of the Hawaiian-US relations, beginning with the first attempt at territorial annexation. This thread of the story is sup\u00adplemented with examples and source texts relating to the recognition of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain countries (e.g. the UK and France, and taken as evidence of international regard for the in\u00adtegrity of statehood). Particularly noteworthy here is the author\u2019s exceptionally scrupulous analysis of the history of Hawaii and its state sovereignty. No obvious flaws are to be found in the analysis presented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is then in the same tone that the author proceeds with an analysis relating to international law, so as to point to the aspects of Hawaii\u2019s illegal occupation by the United States\u2014including an un\u00adprecedentedly detailed analysis of the contents of documents, resolutions, mutual agreements and official political speeches, but also reference to other scientific research projects. This very interest\u00ading strand of the story is followed by Matthew Craven in Chapter 3 on the Continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom as a State under International Law<\/em>. Notwithstanding the standpoint on the legality of the occupation or annexation of Hawaii by the United States, the matter of the right to self-determination keeps springing up now and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considerable attention is also paid to the multi-dimensional nature of the plebiscite organised in 1959 (with regard to Hawaii\u2019s incorporation as a state into the United States of America), with the relative lack of transparency of organisation pointed out, along with various breaches and transgres\u00adsions that may have taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In turn, in Chapter 4\u2014on War Crimes Related to the United States\u2019 Belligerent Occupation of the Ha\u00adwaiian Kingdom\u2014<\/em>William Schabas makes attempts to verify the assertion, explaining the term war crimes and referring to the wording of the relevant definition that international law is seen to have generated. The main problem emerging from this concerns lack of up-to-date international provi\u00adsions as regards the above definition. The reader\u2019s attention is also drawn to the incomplete nature of the catalogue of actions or crimes that could have constituted war crimes (in line with the observa\u00adtions of Lemkin).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While offering narration and background, this Chapter\u2019s author actually eschews Hawaiian-US examples. Instead, he brings the discussion around to cases beyond Hawaii, and in so doing also invokes examples from case-law (e.g. of Criminal Courts and Tribunals). While this is a very interesting choice of approach, it would still have been interesting for the valuable introduction to the subject matter to be supplemented by concrete examples relating to Hawaii, and to the events occur\u00adring there during the period under study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 5\u2014on International Human Rights Law and Self-Determination of Peoples Related to the United States\u2019 Occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom\u2014<\/em>allows its author Federico Lenzerini to contribute hugely to the analysis of the subject matter, given his consideration of the human rights protection system and its development with a focus on the right to self-determination. The author separates those dimensions of the law in question that do not relate to the Hawaiian Kingdom, as well as those that may have application to the Hawaiian society. Indeed, the process ends with Ap\u00adplicability of the Right to Self-Determination During the American Occupation\u2014<\/em>a chapter written with exceptional thoroughness, objectivity and synthesis. The author first tells the story on how the human rights protection system came to be formulated (by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenants of 1996, but also by reference to other Conventions). Rightly signalled is the institutional dimension to the protection of human rights, notably the Human Rights Committee founded to protect the rights outlined in the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is of course re\u00adcalled that the US is not a party to the relevant Protocols, which is preventing US citizens from assert\u00ading the rights singled out in the 1966 Covenants. Again rightly, attention is also paid to the regional human rights mechanism provided for by the 1969 American Convention on Human Rights, which also lacks the United States as a party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus here is naturally on the right to self-determination, which the author correctly terms the only officially recognised right of a collective nature (if one excludes the rights of tribal peoples). The further part of the chapter looks at the obligations of states when it comes to safeguarding their citizens\u2019 fundamental human rights. The philosophical context underpinning the right to self-determination is considered next (with attention rightly paid first to liberty related aspects and the philosophical standpoints of Locke and Rousseau, along with the story of the formulation of this right\u2019s ideological basis and reference to what is at times a lack of clarity regarding its shape and scope (not least in Hawaii\u2019s case). What is therefore welcome is the wide-ranging commentary of\u00adfered on the dimensions to the above rights that do relate to Hawaiian society as well as those that do not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summing up the substantive and conceptual content, it is worth pointing to the somewhat inter\u00addisciplinary nature of the research encompassed. Somewhat simplifying things, this book can first be seen as an in-depth analysis of matters historical (with much space devoted to the roots of the relations between Hawaii and the United States, to the issue of this region\u2019s occupation and the gen\u00adesis of Hawaii\u2019s incorporation into the USA). These aspects have all been discussed with exceptional thoroughness and striking scrupulousness, in line with quotations from many official documents and source texts. This is all pursued deliberately, given the authors\u2019 presumed intention to illustrate the genesis of the whole context underpinning the Hawaiian-US relations, as well as the further context through which Hawaii\u2019s loss of state sovereignty came about. This strand to the story gains excellent illustration thanks to Dr. Keanu Sai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second part is obviously international law related and it also has much space devoted to it by the authors. The publication\u2019s core theses gain support in the analysis of many and varied international documents, be these either mutual agreements between Hawaii and the United States or international Conventions, bilateral agreements of other profiles, resolutions, instruments de\u00adveloped under the aegis of the UN or those of a regional nature (though not only concerned with the Americas, as much space is devoted to European solutions, and European law on the protection of human rights in particular). There is also much reference to international case-law and juris\u00adprudence in a broader sense, the aim being to indicate the precedents already arrived at, and to set these against the international situation in which Hawaii finds itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, notwithstanding this publication\u2019s title, the authors here do not seek to \u201cforce-feed\u201d readers with their theses regarding Hawaii\u2019s legal status. Rather, by reaching out to a wide range of sources in international law as well as from history, they provide sufficient space for independ\u00adent reflection and drawing of conclusions. In this regard, it would be interesting if few remarks were devoted to present-day relations between Hawaii and the rest of the USA, with a view to achieving a more-profound illustration of the state of this relationship. However, it might seem from the book\u2019s overall context that this was done deliberately so that the foundations of this unique dispute gain proper presentation. All is then augmented further by Part 3\u2014the collection of agreements and docu\u00adments considered to sustain the main assumptions of the publication under review. Were I to force myself to point out any failure of the book to meet expectations, I would choose the cultural dimen\u00adsion. There is no way of avoiding an impression\u2014only enhanced by cover-to-cover reading\u2014that this publication is deeply rooted in the Hawaiians\u2019 sense of cultural and historical identity. So it would have been interesting to see the cultural dimension addressed, including through a more in-depth analysis of social awareness. At the very least, I have in mind here Article 27 UDHR, traditionally regarded as the source of the right to culture and the right to participate in cultural life. To be added to that might be Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While (as Boutros Boutros-Ghali noted in 1970) the right in question initially meant access to high culture, there has since been a long process of change that has seen an anthropological dimension conferred upon both culture and the right thereto. A component under that right is the right to a cultural identity\u2014which would seem to be the key space in the Hawaiian context. The UN and UNESCO have in fact been paying a great deal of attention to this matter, with the key relevant documents being the 2005 Conven\u00adtion <\/em>on the Protection <\/em>and Promotion <\/em>of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions that in general links these issues with the human rights dimension as well as the Recommendation on Participation by the People at Large in Cultural Life and their Contribution to It (1976).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So a deeply-rooted cultural-identity dimension would have offered an interesting complement to the publication\u2019s research material, all the more so as it would presumably reveal the attempts to annihilate that culture (thus striking not merely at statehood, but at national integrity of iden\u00adtity). An interesting approach would then have been to show in details whether and to what extent this is resisted by the USA (e.g. in regard to the upholding of symbols of material and non-material cultural heritage).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, given the assumption the book is based on\u2014i.e. the focus on state sovereignty (not the right of cultural minorities, but the right of a nation to self-determination), the above \u201comission\u201d actually takes nothing away from the value of the research presented. However, the aspect of national identity\u2014of which cultural and historical identity is a key component\u2014may represent an impulse for further, more in-depth research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I regard this publication as an exceptionally valuable one that systematises matters of the legal sta\u00adtus of the Hawaiian Kingdom, taking up the key issues surrounding the often ignored topic of a dif\u00adficult historical context occurring between Hawaii and the United States. The issue at stake here has been regenerated synthetically, on multiple levels, with a penetrating analysis of the regulations and norms in international law applying to Hawaii \u2013 starting from potential occupied-territory status, and moving through to multi-dimensional issues relating to both war crimes and human rights. This is one of the few books \u2013 if not the only one \u2013 to describe its subject matter so comprehensively and completely. I therefore see this work as being of exceptional value and considerable scientific impor\u00adtance. It may serve not only as an academic source, but also a professional source of knowledge for both practicing lawyers and historians dealing with the matter on hand. The ambition of those who sought to take up this difficult topic can only be commended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Awareness of the American occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom is spreading in academic circles throughout Europe. In 2022, the Polish Journal of Political Science published a book review by Dr. Anita Budziszewska of the Royal Commission on Inquiry: Investigating War … 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":[7,8,3,6,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-international-law","category-international-relations","category-treaties","category-war-crimes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p31YBQ-1L4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6762","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=6762"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6767,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6762\/revisions\/6767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}