Transcripts of Prof. Francis A. Boyle

From CounterCurrents.org:

RESTORING THE KINGDOM OF HAWAII VERSUS FAKE HAWAIIAN STATEHOOD DAY*

Professor Francis A. Boyle

August 20 and August 21, 2016

(Edited Transcripts)

 

© Copyright 2016 by Francis A. Boyle. All rights reserved.

 

Townhall Meeting with the Nation of Hawaii at Waimanalo

Saturday August 20, 2016

 

 

Bumpy [Kanahele] asked me to speak at the [Iolani] Palace tomorrow and I said I would, no problem there.  But I said, how about if I come out a day early just to listen to what everyone has to say? Not me to talk, but me to listen to what you have to say because the last time I was here I didn’t get a chance to listen to anyone. OHA set me up! Some of you were there in November 2014. OHA told me this was going to be a day-long session: The morning would be devoted to independence and then the afternoon session would be devoted to federal recognition — turning the Kanaka Maoli into an Indian tribe. I said fine, as long as half the day is devoted to independence, that’s okay with me.

I came out and got there at William McKinley High School, with a statue of William McKinley out there, and I thought: Well this is a pretty curious place for OHA to be having a seminar on independence. But I didn’t say anything. So they had a coffee-and-donut session for all the speakers beforehand and I went back there. I don’t mean any disrespect here to anyone who is an Indian. I work with Indians too. But everyone there was an Indian lawyer except me. So where were the speakers in favor of independence? I thought the whole morning was supposed to be about independence and restoring the Kingdom?

So I had to take a break from them. I just thought: Obviously I’ve been set up here. So I went out in the front yard and looked at William McKinley. And I thought, this is appropriate: OHA is having a forum, half of which is supposed to be devoted to independence, at the William McKinley high school right there with William McKinley standing and looking down upon us all.

I went back in and the first speaker was some idiot from Estonia. I have no idea where they lined this guy up, I had never heard of him. But he was there on Skype. And he said: “Well, the U.S. destroyed the Kingdom of Hawaii and that’s that and there’s nothing you can do about it.” That was the first speaker, if you can believe it, on a half-day session devoted to independence. And of course that guy was an idiot because I have worked with Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis on the restoration of their State after it had been occupied and annexed by Stalin and the Soviet Union. So in my comments, I said, well if the Estonians can do it then we Kanaka Maoli can do it! I’m part of Bumpy’s Ohana here. We can do it! What’s the difference?

I spoke for half an hour. Indeed, I was originally told it would be forty minutes and then when I got on the podium they said: “Well you get 30 minutes.” I thought, okay, I’m a lawyer, so I stick to my timeframe. I came in at 29 minutes. Some of you were there. You can see the speech I gave on their [OHA] webpage. But I was told 30 minutes, that’s it. I was planning forty. Okay. So I made the speech in 30 minutes instead of 40.

Now I think OHA was really shaken up because as I said: “Well look all you Kanaka Maoli have to do — all 130,000 of you, — is get together and restore the Kingdom of Hawaii. You have this article 195 procedure. Go right ahead, get together and restore it. And no force on earth could possibly stop you!” And then the Nation’s Chanter got up and said: “Well Professor Boyle, how about 40,000?” And I said: “Sure, 40,000 would do it as well!” I want to commend the Chanter and his Mother because his chant before I spoke gave me strength among the snakes there at OHA.

So then came on after me, instead of other independence advocates, were these two Indian lawyers. I thought, okay, I’ll listen to what they have to say. It was clear OHA had paid them a large amount of money to do an official study for them on why the Kanaka Maoli should become an Indian tribe. Some of you were there. You heard these two lawyers – I’m not criticizing them one way or the other – but it’s clear they were paid a large amount of money. Do you know how much OHA paid me to come out there? I got a $500 honorarium less my out-of-pocket expenses. And they bought me the worst possible seats on the airplane you could possibly imagine. They wouldn’t even recline!

So I listened to the first speaker, and then I listened to the second speaker. I thought: “This is a setup. They’re sandwiching me in between speakers designed to argue that you Kanaka Maoli should become Indians rather than restoring your Kingdom.” So when the second speaker came out and he said: “Well you Kanaka Maoli can get your rights as indigenous peoples too.” We know that’s a crock! There are rights of indigenous peoples. It’ll be a cold day in hell before you get any of those rights! We have a Kingdom, why should we revert to nothing more than rights of an indigenous people? So at that point I thought: “This thing is no more than a setup and I’m not going to have anything more to do with this. And I’m not going to be on a panel with these Indian lawyers arguing that the Kanaka Maoli should become Indians as opposed to restoring the Kingdom.” So I walked out with Bumpy. We had a nice lunch and I went home. But regretfully I did not have a chance to talk to any of you and to hear your concerns.

When Bumpy asked me first to come out here in 1993, I said: “I’d be happy to speak, but I want you to take me out and meet all your people, to meet them and hear what they have to say.” So Bumpy did. And I remember in 1993 out on the Big Island and there was a beach encampment, people living out there, and I was speaking on the beach in some type of shelter. And after I was done a very elderly Kupuna said to me: “Professor Boyle, why are you the first person to come out here and tell us what our rights are?” I didn’t have an answer to her question but I was glad I was the first one to go.

So that’s why I’m here today. I am not here to give you a lecture. You heard my lecture there that I gave at OHA even though I was set up by those people, and it is on their webpage and it is reduced to 30 minutes and it’s based on my book, which you can read if you want to. Bumpy has some copies here. [Restoring the Kingdom of Hawaii (Clarity Press: 2015)]. I’m just here to listen this time to what you people have to say — the Kanaka Maoli have to say and their supporters. I’m not here to lecture today. I want to hear what you have to say because in formulating my opinion, my advice to give to you and to Bumpy and to other leaders I deal with here who ask for my advice, I have to know what you’re thinking.

Now, let me conclude with one point, which is that I think OHA was shaken up by what I had to say: That 130,000 of you could go out and restore the Kingdom together, united, pursuant to your right of self-determination. Now if you want to hear a debate on this, it’s with Poka [Laenui] and me, the night before on Kioni Dudley’s TV program. It’s on their website. It’s a 3 hour debate I had with Poka. I’m not questioning Poka’s good faith, but it was a very rough debate back and forth between the two of us arguing this out. And then someone from Keanu’s [Sai] group came in too. And we all argued it out. So I was there and we argued it out – you can listen to the debate between Poka, disagreeing in good faith with me and my position. I know people out here have disagreements in good faith.

But I think OHA was shaken up, that they were worried that that’s exactly what you’re going to do. That 130,000 of you were going to get together and proclaim the Restoration of the Kingdom of Hawaii and that would be that. There would be nothing at that point anyone could do to stop you!

So they set up this fraudulent little Na’i Aupini process, OHA did, I think to head that off. I didn’t say anything. I thought if OHA is going to do it, let’s see what comes of it. But it seems to me OHA did that to head off 130,000 Kanaka Maoli coming together and restoring independence, the Kingdom. So they had preselected delegates that were acceptable to OHA, many of them, and it was not grassroots for all of you getting together. There were intermediates then, and OHA controlled the process and it seemed to me from a distance – now I was back in Champaign so I could only follow on the computer – that OHA was moving towards an Indian tribe.

Now, Bumpy went. Good! Good for Bump! Bumpy stayed for eight days and he tried to raise all these concerns and they shut him down. So finally Bumpy said “I had enough of this” and walked out. I put out a little Statement in support of Bumpy for walking out.

It seems to me at this point I would hope federal recognition is dead in the water. I guess in the lame-duck session of Congress after the elections, who knows what Obama and his people are going to do. That’s a serious danger before Obama walks out of there. But my assessment is that that’s where we are today. But at this point I’ve come to listen to what you have to say. So those are my comments. I’m really here today to listen. That’s it. Thanks.

Speeches at Iolani Palace

Fake Statehood Day

Sunday August 21, 2016

I.

Aloha. I’m very happy to be with you here today to talk about the fake state of Hawaii under international law. This is a fake and bogus state of the United States of America and everyone knows it. The United States of America is 2,000 miles that way. I just flew in over the Pacific Ocean the other night.

France tried to do the same thing with Algeria. They invaded Algeria. They annexed Algeria. And then they determined that Algeria was a department of France, like a state or province in France. No one believed that and certainly the Algerians didn’t believe that — that’s for sure! And today Algeria is a free and independent state and a member state of the United Nations Organization and most of the French have gone home. Some want to live there. That’s fine.

Now I’m not going to review the entire history of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Kanaka Maoli here. I’ve written a book which you’re free to get. Bumpy has extra copies there, Restoring the Kingdom of Hawaii. And I have a beautiful picture on the back of Pele, drawn by a Kanaka Maoli artist who gave me the permission to put it on the book.

When the U.S. invaded the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 it was clearly an illegal invasion. There was a treaty that the U.S. had with the Kingdom of Hawaii guaranteeing peace and amity forever in perpetuity. They paid no attention at all to these solemn commitments, even under the terms of their own U.S. Constitution. Article 6 guaranteed that treaties are the supreme law of the land. They grossly violated this treaty and perpetrated an act of warfare on the Kingdom of Hawaii and even again in violation of another provision of their own Constitution. Article 1 section 8 says that only Congress can authorize and approve warfare. Congress never approved any warfare against the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Kanaka Maoli.

So nothing could be clearer that today the U.S. is the illegal occupant of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Kanaka Maoli, and that the bogus state of Hawaii is nothing more than the agent, the instrument, of the illegal, belligerent occupant of the Kingdom of Hawaii known as the U.S. government. Now, when the U.S. invaded Hawaii in 1893, it became what is known under the international laws of war at that time as the belligerent occupant. The belligerent military occupant of Hawaii. What did that mean?

Number one, the U.S. never gained any sovereignty over Hawaii and the Kingdom of Hawaii. Belligerent occupation cannot transfer sovereignty and the U.S. never got sovereignty here in Hawaii. Second, under the laws of war, sovereignty resides in the hands of the displaced sovereign and in this case, the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Kanaka Maoli. Indeed, the Kanaka Maoli here in Hawaii have the right of self-determination under international law. Indeed, the Kanaka Maoli are the only people out here in Hawaii that have a right of self-determination under international law. It’s that simple and that is what we are doing here today. We are exercising our right of self-determination and to denounce the bogus, fake state of Hawaii. And I say “we” because Bumpy Kanahele and the Ohana Council adopted me into the Ohana Council as far back as 1993. So yes, I’m Hanai, and I have a right here to speak on behalf of our Ohana.

So the U.S. and the fake state of Hawaii are nothing more than the belligerent occupation of the state of Hawaii. Now under the laws of war, if the U.S. wants to set up a puppet state and a puppet government to occupy Hawaii by means of belligerent occupation, it can. There’s nothing illegal under the laws of war with setting up a puppet government and a puppet state. And that’s what this fake state of Hawaii is all about. It’s a puppet state and a puppet government of the U.S. acting here only pursuant to the laws of war. It’s the civilian arm of the U.S. military occupation forces and that’s the way you have to look at it.

The U.S. has paid absolutely no attention to the laws of war and belligerent occupation out here in Hawaii. They’ve tried to conquer, annex, dominate, exterminate you Kanaka Maoli, but you are still here. You are still in possession of your land and are a People with a right of self-determination exercising power over your own land. This is what sovereignty is all about and that’s why we are here today. As an exercise of sovereignty and self-determination for the Kanaka Maoli and also the Kingdom of Hawaii. We’re here in both causes together.

Now the normal rule when a treaty has been violated so grievously as the U.S. government did by waging illegal warfare against the Kingdom of Hawaii is what is called restitution. They must restore the situation to what it was before the violation and in the case of the Kingdom of Hawaii, as I explain in greater detail in my book, the U.S. government has the obligation to restore the Kingdom of Hawaii and evacuate Hawaii. Leave Hawaii! Lock, stock, and barrel! And allow the Kanaka Maoli to exercise their right of self-determination. Restore the Kingdom of Hawaii! Terminate this bogus, fake state of Hawaii and move on toward international recognition and membership in the United Nations Organization!

Now you might say: “Oh Professor Boyle, isn’t that a pipe-dream?”  Not at all! In 1987, I appeared at the United Nations as a guest of the Palestinians to talk about their future and at that time I said: “The time has now come for you Palestinians to unilaterally create your own state and then move for international recognition and membership in the United Nations  Organization!” And that’s exactly what they did! On November 15, 1988, they adopted their Declaration of Independence and today, the State of Palestine has de jure diplomatic recognition from 136 states in the world. And Observer State Status at the United Nations Organization in 2012. That took 25 years of hard work and organization, but they did it — and living under a most brutal colonial genocidal military occupation where, today, Palestinians are being shot dead like dogs in the street. And yet they still resist on their own land! And I have devised the means whereby they can overcome the veto by the United States government [at the Security Council] to join the United Nations Organization as a full-fledged member state.

You Kanaka Maoli can and must do the same thing! Because the only protection the modern world has developed from genocide and extermination and assimilation and elimination is an independent state of your own: Restoring that Kingdom of Hawaii and then moving for international recognition of that Kingdom and eventually membership in the United Nations Organization. No United Nations member state has ever been destroyed, and we must get to that point. It might take us 25 years like it did for the Palestinians. But if they can do it, we can do it too!

Now, as I said, then, this so-called “statehood” was bogus, completely. It was controlled, dominated, orchestrated by the U.S. government to set up a puppet state under the laws of war with a puppet government and we all know, they over there do whatever the Yankees tell them to do. So fine. But they’re still a gang of puppets, and they have no validity at all under international law and they know it. They know that this is your land! They know that they stole it from you! They know that they destroyed the Kingdom of Hawaii! They know you Kanaka Maoli have the right of self-determination! They know they must restore the Kingdom of Hawaii to you as well as your lands and your oceans and your fish and your beaches and all your other natural resources!

But again, they are not going to do it voluntarily. It is up to you, the Kanaka Maoli, to demand it as you’re doing here today. You are demanding your rights under international law. You are denouncing the fake state of Hawaii that has no legality or credibility at all. And you are demanding the Restoration of your Kingdom. Your Kingdom still exists as a legal entity. It is what we call a “displaced sovereign.” It is up to you the Kanaka Maoli to bring it back to life. From the ground up, to build the Kingdom of Hawaii and to restore it. If the Palestinians can do it, you can certainly do it as well. There’s no doubt in my mind that you can!

Now in addition, however, one of the requirements of an independent state under international law is a government. We have a State and by the way, that puts us ahead of the Palestinians. They did not have a state as of 1988. But now they do and it is recognized de jure by 136 states and the United Nations in 25 years. But we have a State, the Kingdom of Hawaii, it’s just a displaced sovereign. So we just have to bring it back to life. That’s what we have to do. That’s what you have to do. That’s why I flew all the way out from Chicago to Honolulu Friday night — just to help to restore this Kingdom of Hawaii back to life!

But to do this we’re going to need a government and government structures to guide and direct the process. The Palestinians have their provisional government guiding their State’s establishment until they can have democratic elections in a free unoccupied Palestine. So we need a provisional government out here and a provisional government of national unity.

Now, I’ve been coming out here to Hawaii since 1993. I’ve lectured all over the Islands. I’ve met many people and Kupunas and I know you all have good faith disagreements about how to proceed from here. In the comments I made yesterday, I didn’t criticize any Kanaka Maoli leaders except OHA. They’re clearly going for an Indian tribe. That’s for sure, and we don’t want to go in that direction. Look what the Americans did to the Indians! That’s a one way path to extermination! So OHA are Indian tribers, and in my opinion, we cannot rely upon them for any direction at all because they’re moving towards this Indian tribe, this so called federal recognition as an Indian tribe. And that will be the end of us for sure. And OHA knows it because I’ve told them so!

We need alternative leadership! A provisional government of national unity. Now, involving all of your Kupunas and your leaders, and to try to come together and put aside your good faith disagreements and to move forward, to restore the Kingdom of Hawaii, throw out the United States of America and its bogus, fake state of Hawaii. They have to go!

Now, we also have one other example from history of this being done, and that is Mahatma Gandhi in India. As we know, Gandhi applied his strategy and theory of Satyagraha, “truth-force,” non-violent but truth-force. Forcing yourself upon the colonial occupying oppressor and demanding that they leave. And clearly Gandhi was a man of the East, not of the rotten, corrupt, decadent West. Gandhi had it all figured out from his own cultural and religious heritage. You can read it in his book Satyagraha. That’s what we need here. Satyagraha is consistent with the Spirit of Aloha. They’re the exact same thing and that’s what we need here. Satyagraha and the Spirit of Aloha together along with each and every one of you as self-determining Kanaka Maoli doing whatever you can to force the United States of America and this fake state of Hawaii out of here by means of Aloha and Satyagraha. I believe it can be done!

Gandhi threw the mighty British empire out of the entire Indian subcontinent with Satyagraha! Certainly I think the Kanaka Maoli using Satyagraha and the Spirit of Aloha can throw the mighty American empire out of the Kingdom of Hawaii and take its fake state with it along the way out the door and on the airplane home! But to do that, to move forward, we’re going to need your leaders and your Kupunas to come together and try to set up this provisional government of national unity where you can all work together on this agenda. It can be done! It will be done! But it is up to you! Thank you. Mahalo.

 

II.

Bumpy asked this question about filing genocide charges against the United States for genocide against the Kanaka Maoli and the answer is yes! I was the lawyer for the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina that filed genocide charges for them against Yugoslavia. I won two Orders of provisional measures of protection for the Bosnians against Yugoslavia to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against them. Now, that’s the first time ever any lawyer has won two Orders in one case since the World Court was founded in 1921. So my opinion is: yes, we can, but not right away.

Now I had mentioned to you before the work I did with Palestinians starting from 1987 when I first said we should create our state until 2012 when we became an Observer State at the United Nations by vote of the U.N. General Assembly. So at that point I then advised the Palestinians that we are now in a position to sue Israel for genocide against the Palestinians at the International Court of Justice. This is a matter of public record. The Palestinian leadership – their Provisional Government for the State of Palestine – is considering it as we speak. If and when I get instructions, I’ll file that lawsuit!

That being said, we’re behind the Palestinians in terms of the establishment of our Statehood. We have to get to the point where they are, and then I could file genocide charges against the United States government. So what does that mean? It’s up to all of you to get us to that point, to restore the Kingdom of Hawaii. To set up this provisional government of national unity like the Palestinians did so that I could act to file a genocide lawsuit against the United States.

As a matter of fact, I already argued genocide for the Kanaka Maoli in 1992 at the San Francisco Tribunal where my client and friend, the late Kekuni Blaisdell, showed up with his Ohana. I agreed to represent them and to argue their case before the San Francisco Tribunal, that the Kanaka Maoli were victims of genocide. And I explain this in my book here, if you want to read it, and chapter 1 is entitled “Kanaka Maoli Genocide.” After my arguments for the Kanaka Maoli, my presentation of the case, the Tribunal of seven international human rights experts ruled as follows:

“The Tribunal further accepts a motion by the Prosecutor for the Native American Peoples to amend the face of the Indictment to include the following allegation which the Tribunal unanimously finds has been sufficiently proved by the evidence it has received:”

Notice it says unanimous. Everyone agreed. The case was so clearcut that the Kanaka Maoli were victims of genocide, as I argued to them. And what was their Ruling? This is their Ruling:

“The Federal Government of the United States of America has perpetrated crimes of genocide against the Kanaka Maoli (the Indigenous Hawaiian People), and has engaged in actions constituting gross violation of their human rights and their right to self-determination. All of which threaten to render the Kanaka Maoli extinct.”

That was unanimous on two points: One, Kanaka Maoli have been a victim of genocide. Two, you have a right of self-determination, which I discussed in my first speech here today. It’s up to you. It’s in your hands. If you want to see any of this done, it’s got to be done by you. We lawyers can’t work miracles, I’ll tell you that. It’s up to your People to exercise self-determination to restore the Kingdom of Hawaii and toward that end to establish this provisional government of national unity. And then I can sue the United States government for genocide at the International Court of Justice. Thank you.