Public Report on Unlawful Confinement in Hawaiʻi

Public Report on Unlawful Confinement in Hawaiʻi

Issued by the Office of Hawaiian Subjects (OHS) under authority of the Ministry of Hawaiian Subjects, Hawaiian Kingdom

For more than a century, the Hawaiian Islands have existed under conditions that meet the international legal definition of prolonged belligerent occupation. During this period, the population of Hawaiian Subjects—whose nationality and political allegiance lawfully derive from the Hawaiian Kingdom—have been placed under the authority of foreign administrative structures operating under U.S. jurisdiction as the “State of Hawaiʻi.”

One of the most visible and severe consequences of this occupation is the mass confinement of Hawaiian Subjects in State-run correctional facilities, despite the absence of any lawful transfer of sovereignty from the Hawaiian Kingdom to the United States.

I.
Introduction

This report outlines:

>The scale of detention in Hawaiʻi;
>The humanitarian and legal implications under international law;
>The concerns of Hawaiian families whose loved ones are confined;
>The work of OHS and the Ministry of Hawaiian Subjects; and
>The legal standards that define unlawful confinement during occupation.

This statement is issued not as opinion, but as a clear presentation of the lawful norms of international humanitarian law (IHL) and the continuing existence of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

II.
The Legal Status of the Hawaiian Kingdom

The Hawaiian Kingdom is a recognized, treaty-bound State whose sovereignty has never been legally extinguished. No treaty of cession, annexation, or lawful transfer of jurisdiction was ever concluded between the Hawaiian Kingdom and the United States.

Under international law:

>States do not disappear by overthrow or occupation;
>Sovereignty continues until lawfully transferred by treaty; and
>Occupation cannot transfer sovereignty.

All treaties of the Hawaiian Kingdom remain valid unless lawfully terminated. The Kingdom’s subjects—Kānaka and naturalized nationals—retain their national identity by force of law, regardless of U.S. administrative claims.

III.
Occupation and the Status of Hawaiian Subjects

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Hawaiian Subjects in the hands of an occupying administration are classified as “protected persons.”

Protected persons cannot be:

>Arbitrarily detained;
>Deported outside the occupied territory;
>Punished without due process; or
>Subject to the occupying power’s domestic legislation in disregard of IHL.

Any confinement violating these rules constitutes unlawful confinement, a grave breach—that is, a war crime under Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

IV.
Scope of Confinement Under the State of Hawaiʻi

As of 2024–2025, data publicly released by the State of Hawaiʻi indicate:

Design capacity: approximately 2,491 beds;
Operational capacity: approximately 3,527 beds;
Actual in-state incarcerated population: around 2,800–3,000 individuals; and
Hawaiʻi inmates held in Arizona (Saguaro): approximately 900 individuals.

This means that more than 3,500 human beings are held under the custody of an administrative structure that OHS identifies as the occupying authority.

Research consistently shows that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people are drastically overrepresented in these facilities. By OHS classification and genealogical reality, a significant portion—often cited as three-quarters—may be Hawaiian Subjects.

Under Kingdom law, every such individual is therefore a protected person under occupation law.

V.
Why This Constitutes Unlawful Confinement

Under international humanitarian law, confinement becomes unlawful confinement—a grave breach—when:

There is no lawful sovereign jurisdiction to try, sentence, or imprison the protected person;
Detention is based on the domestic laws of the occupying administration rather than the strict limits of the Fourth Geneva Convention;
Individuals are transported outside the occupied territory (for example, to Saguaro Prison in Arizona);
There is no demonstration of imperative security necessity in each case as required by Articles 42 and 78; and
Due process rights required by IHL are not fully provided.
Because no treaty ever transferred jurisdiction from the Hawaiian Kingdom to the United States or the State of Hawaiʻi, the legal authority to confine Hawaiian Subjects does not exist under international law.

Every incarcerated Hawaiian Subject thus represents a potential instance of unlawful confinement.

VI.
Humanitarian Concerns of Hawaiian Families

Hawaiian families—many of whom understand their national identity as Hawaiian Subjects—express:

>Fear for the safety of imprisoned relatives;
>Confusion about why they are confined by authorities with no lawful jurisdiction;
>Deep emotional distress over out-of-state transfers to Arizona;
>Pain over intergenerational incarceration patterns that mirror displacement and historic trauma; and
>Concern that their loved ones are being held under a foreign system never lawfully established in Hawaiʻi.

From the humanitarian view of OHS and the Ministry of Hawaiian Subjects, these are protected persons in distress, deserving of oversight, documentation, and lawful protection.

VII.
The Role of OHS and the Ministry of Hawaiian Subjects

The Office of Hawaiian Subjects operates as:

>A humanitarian monitoring body;
>A repository of Kingdom nationality records;
>A reporter of incidents of unlawful confinement;
>A communicator with families;
>An educator on the law of occupation; and
>A recorder of potential grave breaches for transmission to appropriate authorities.

The Ministry of Hawaiian Subjects directs that:

Every confinement involving a Hawaiian Subject is to be documented;
Every facility holding Hawaiian Subjects constitutes a site of concern;
Communications to State entities must be framed as lawful notices, not petitions;
Hawaiian Subjects retain their national identity even while confined; and
Under occupation law, their rights cannot be extinguished by domestic legislation of the occupying administration.

VIII.
Long-Term Implications

If any competent international or domestic court ever recognizes the continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom under occupation law, the implications for confinement and taxation could be significant, including:

>Unlawful confinement claims;
>Wrongful incarceration redress;
>Jurisdictional challenges;
>Restitution claims for enforcement of laws without lawful authority; and
International humanitarian reviews of prolonged detention under occupation.

IX.
Conclusion

The Hawaiian Kingdom exists in continuity under international law. Hawaiian Subjects are protected persons under occupation law. The ongoing mass confinement of Hawaiian Subjects by the State of Hawaiʻi raises grave and urgent questions under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Families have real humanitarian concerns. OHS and the Ministry of Hawaiian Subjects continue to document, report, and clarify these conditions in accordance with their lawful duties.

This report is issued in the interest of truth, clarity, and the protection of Hawaiian Subjects under the laws that govern all occupied territories.

Report by: Ministry of Hawaiian Subjects & Humanitarian Affairs