U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES CLAIMED BY HAWAIIANS
Akaka Bill Seen As Meaningless & Worthless
The Honolulu Advertiser - Friday, May 5, 2006
Three Hawaiian sovereignty groups are calling for the United Nations to demand that the United States respond to allegations of human rights violations against Native Hawaiians that the groups have detailed in a report.
They also took the opportunity to slam the Akaka bill even as supporters of the measure, which seeks to create a federally recognized government
entity, rally for it to be heard in the U.S. Senate.
The report was submitted earlier this year to the U.N.'s Human Rights Committee by Mililani Trask, convenor of Na Koa Ikaika O Ka Lahui Hawai`i, Kai`opua Fyfe of the Koani Foundation and Kekuni Blaisdell, chairman of the Kanaka Maoli Tribunal Komike.
The groups are seeking the removal of the U.S. government from the Hawaiian Islands.
Trask, Fyfe and Blaisdell appeared at a news conference yesterday in front of `Iolani Palace, where Queen Liliu'okalani was overthrown in 1893 by businessmen with the backing of U.S. troops....
The goal of the report is "to shame the United States for its theft of our nation, theft of our government, the taking of our land," Blaisdell
said.
The report is one of thousands alleging human rights violations by the U.S. that will be taken up by the Human Rights Committee in Geneva in
July, Fyfe said.
Fyfe said the Akaka bill would not go far enough in addressing the concerns of Native Hawaiians....
"Because the Hawaiian peoples never directly relinquished their claims to their lands, the differences between the USA and Hawai'i can only be settled under international law," Fife said.
"The Akaka bill, a domestic law if enacted by the U.S., could not apply...."
Said Trask: "I think we all admit that this Akaka bill is nothing more than a failure. It's going nowhere, and frankly, it doesn't address any of
the issues in the apology. It doesn't address any of the needs here, whether housing, education or employment. The (Akaka) bill is simply too little, too late. We really need to look for redress somewhere else."
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