U.N. Expert to Hawai`i Judges: Islands Under “Strange Form of Occupation” by U.S.

5/19/2018

by Christine Gralow

The Hawaiian Kingdom Blog released a letter today written by United Nations Independent Expert Alfred deZayas to two Hawaii Circuit Court judges.

In the letter, dated February 18, 2018, deZayas wrote, "I have come to understand that the lawful political status of the Hawaiian Islands is that of a sovereign nation-state in continuity; but a nation-state that is under a strange form of occupation by the United States resulting from an illegal military occupation and a fraudulent annexation."

DeZayas addressed this letter to Hawaii Circuit Court Judges Gary Chang and Jeannette Castagnetti. Chang presides over Hawaii's Land and Tax Appeal Court. Castagnetti presided over the contentious Nelson v. Hawaiian Homes Commission case, in which she ordered the Hawaii State Legislature to pay the Dept. of Hawaiian Home Lands $28 million in 2016.

"To call this (U.N.) document 'remarkable' is an understatement," David Keanu Sai told Hawaiian Kingdom Blog.

Sai, who holds a Ph.D. in political science from U.H., has led several international complaints regarding the legal status of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He explained in an email to Meanwhile in Hawai'i that his complaints aimed to expose "the continued existence of the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent and sovereign State."

Sai said a relative of Routh Bolomet, "a Hawaiian-Swiss citizen," alerted him last week to deZayas' letter.

In the letter, deZayas referred to his review of a 2017 complaint from Bolomet to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Bolomet complained of "historical and ongoing plundering of the Hawaiians' lands, particularly of those heirs and descendants with land titles that originate from the distributions of lands under the authority of the Hawaiian Kingdom," deZayas wrote.

DeZayas served as the U.N. Human Rights Council's Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order from May 2012 through April 2018. He wrote the letter while serving in that position. He previously served as Secretary of the U.N. Human Rights Committee and Senior Lawyer with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. He is a Cuban-born U.S. citizen with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He currently teaches at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Law.

Meanwhile in Hawai'i has reached out to deZayas to try to gain more legal context on the letter. This article will be updated as more information is received. Mahalo to Hawaiian Kingdom Blog for publicly sharing this document.

7 Comments

Hawaiian Kingdom Subject

5/20/2018 09:52:46 am

Hawaiian Kingdom legal victory

Patrick

5/20/2018 10:58:55 am

Does this hold legal weight?

Christine Gralow

5/20/2018 03:16:45 pm

I spoke with Dr. Sai today and hope to speak with Dr. deZayas during the workweek. I am learning more about Bolomet's current case and will seek comment from Chang and Castagnetti. Thanks for your inquiry, Patrick. - CG

HankDaTank

5/21/2018 07:51:53 am

And to think it all started with Christian missionaries coming to "save the savages". All the problems of the world always go back to religion. In the name of god man can do the most heinous things with no remorse.

Kageki link

8/14/2018 09:33:10 am

I like to submit that the problem lies with man and not religion. The false teachers and prophets who have distorted the Word of God. I have come to understand the lie of Jesus being crucified and how this myth was created to create Christianity and oppress humanity with this doctrine. The biggest abuser being Rome.

Monty Fung

8/10/2018 03:21:08 pm

There is significant evidence to suggest that the letter (memorandum actually) by de Zayas is fake. In light of the evidence presented below, the author should retract the story and issue an apology until the United Nations confirms the authenticity of the document.

First, the memorandum is from “Dr. Alfred M. deZayas.” The correct name of the purported author is “Alfred-Maurice de Zayas.” It is extremely unlikely that an expert such as de Zayas, or anyone, would write his own name so incorrectly. Note that this is simply not a typo since the same “Dr. Alfred M. deZayas” appears at the bottom of the memorandum. Additionally, no document on the internet by de Zayas uses the format and spelling of the memorandum.

Second, the quality of United Nations Human Rights header image is very poor compared to the text of the letter. It looks like someone used a low quality jpg to forge the source.

Third, in the “To:” section, an “and” incorrectly appears after “Honorable Gary W. B. Chang. Surely, someone of Mr. de Zayas’ skill would not have added that.

Fourth, the letter cites “Paquete Habana Case (1900)” using a very unique citation format. Surely, a person with a Harvard Law Degree writing to judges (other people with a law degree) would use the proper citation format, Paquete Habana; The Lola, 175 U.S. 677 (1900).

Fifth, the memorandum is signed at the bottom, which is contrary to general memorandum format. Generally, memorandums with a from section at the top do not include a signature line at the bottom since that would be repetitive. Surely, any secretary at the United Nations would know this.

Sixth, the inconsistent capitalization of “State of Hawaii.”

Seventh, neither the United Nations website nor one controlled by de Zayas (including his twitter) mentions this letter. Surely, de Zayas would have mentioned a memorandum addressed to an entire branch of a state government in his twitter.

Eighth, someone with de Zayas’ legal background would know that this memorandum is procedurally defective and inadmissible. He would know that submission of his opinion in a case would require him being named an expert, issuing a report, and being subject to cross examination in that case. Issuing a document to the entire Hawaii judiciary has no bearing even if it mentions a particular case.

Christine Gralow

8/10/2018 08:11:23 pm

Dear "Monty,"

DeZayas, Sai, Bolmet and the U.N. all confirmed this. You're using a fake name, and you're trolling Meanwhile in Hawai'i with an agenda to prove that it's "fake news". It's not. Move on.

Sincerely,

Christine Gralow

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About
Christine Gralow

Christine Gralow holds Master's degrees in journalism and education. She studied at U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, where she won a Bloomberg Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting. She wrote about autism for a New York Times education blog. Since 2003, Christine has worked as a special educator. She decided to return to journalism part time after stumbling upon concerning activity in her community.