Hale Pai
Pacific American News Journal
Mei-May 1996 Volume 2 Issue 5
The Kanaka Maoli Tribunal Komike's Statement
In Opposition To House Bill 3283
By Jose Luis Morin, ESQ.
On behalf of the Kanaka Maoli Tribunal Komike, I wish to speak
in opposition to the House Bill 3283 for the following reasons:
Renaming the "plebiscite" a "Native Hawaiian
Vote" is a deception. The name change proposed by H.B. 3283
is an attempt to mask the true nature of the so-called
"plebiscite." It is a process which purports to be
"in the spirit of self-determination," but is not a
true process for self-determination under international law. It
is misleading to the Kanaka Maoli people to represent the
State-sponsored, state-financed, State controlled plebiscite
process as true process for self-determination. It is equally
misleading to now rename the so-called "plebiscite" a
"Native Hawaiian Vote" in order to further misdirect
the Kanaka Maoli people into participation in a decidedly flawed
process and a process which does not conform to international
law.
By definition, a plebiscite is a vote. Therefore, to rename
the "plebiscite" a "Native Hawaiian Vote"
does not make the process a process of the Kanaka Maoli people
nor does it make it anymore legal under international law. As a
"vote," it can still be misused against the Kanaka
Maoli people, as in 1959, "statehood" plebiscite was
misused to deny the Kanaka Maoli people the use of the United
Nations process for decolonization as a Non-Self-Governing
Territory.
Renaming the "plebiscite" a "Native Hawaiian
Vote" does remedy the serious flaws in this State sponsored
process. Flaws in the State-sponsored "plebiscite" are
increasingly apparent. Serious questions can be raised about the
propriety of this State-sponsored process including but not
limited to:
The improper use of State funds out of state:
The unwise and extravagant commitment of the state taxpayer
dollars for an expensive process that begins with a so-called
"plebiscite" but which involves further elections and
constitutional convention for which no definite cost assessments
have been made;
The inappropriate use of the Office Of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)
voter list believed to contain many names of non-Kanaka Maoli for
a State-sponsored electoral process;
The automatic registration of persons on the OHA voter
registry and the membership rolls of the Hawaiian Civic Clubs and
the Kamehameha Schools Alumni Association without the consent of
the persons listed;
The improper use of OHA trust monies for this so-called
"plebiscite" and the self-serving nature of OHA's
funding of the process, as a self-proclaimed
"state-within-a-state" model for
"sovereignty";
The States involvement ia a process which rushes Kanaka Maoli
people into a "plebiscite" vote that binds the people
into a presently undefined process for the election of delegates
and equally undefined constitutional convention;
The impropriety of a state-created agency, the Hawaiian
Sovereignty Elections Council (HESC) conducting a process which
purports to be a process of self-determination and
decolonization, but which fails to meet the most basic
international standards for such a process,
The blatant inconsistency in the State government support for
this so-called "plebiscite" for the benefit of the
Kanaka Maoli people while the State continues to cut funds for
health, education, housing, Hawaiian language programs and other
services to the Kanaka Maoli people; and
The glaring contradiction of the State government purporting
to hold this so-called "plebiscite" for the good of
"Native Hawaiians" while the State is involved
presently in seeking the eviction of Kanaka Maoli people from the
Makua Valley and seeking the eviction of the Pai 'Ohana in Kona.
These irregularities bring into question the State's oversight
responsibilities for elections and raise grave doubts as to the
State's credibility and impropriety to engage in such a process.
In addition, these issues raise the specter of serious violations
of constitutional as well as state, federal and international
law.
H.B. 3283 does not address the problem that this
State-sponsored "vote" is not a true exercise in the
people's right to self-determination under international law.
A true process for the exercise of a people's right to
self-determination is internationally-supervised and complies
with international standards, such as those found in United
Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of . 3283, which
amends Act 200 of 1994; H.B. 3283 falls outside internationally
recognized standards for the true exercise of the right of
self-determination and decolonization.
Based on the foregoing, The Kanaka Maoli Tribunal Komike urges
that House Bill 3283 be rejected and that the entire
"plebiscite" process be found ill-considered
economically and legally and not in the best interest of the
Kanaka Maoli people.
Jose Luis Morin is a civil rights and international
human rights lawyer. He served as a member of the
prosecutor/advocate team in the 1993 Peoples' International
Tribunal in Hawai`i.
Definitions:
- Plebiscite:
- A vote of the People expressing their choice for or
against a proposed law or enactment, submitted to them,
and which if adopted, will work a change in the
constitution, or which is beyond the powers of the
regular legislative body. Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth
Edition, 1991.
- Referendum:
- A process of referring to the electorate for approval a
proposed new state constitution or amendment
(constitutional referendum) or of a law passed by the
legislature (statutory referendum). Black's Law
Dictionary, Sixth Edition, 1991.
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Last modified: February 28, 1998
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