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it by virtue of purchase. subjected to fines and Representing the delega- Hawaii stated they would
The Committee questio- imprisonment if they could tion from Alaska were continue to pursue their
Ronald claims.
ned the US delegation on not pass a test to read, Ambassador
the status of the indige- write or speak in English. Barnes, Mary Ann Mills
nous peoples during the This violated the mandate and Olga Malutin. Mr. In the final day of the ple-
the
referenda leading to the of the administering Leon K Sui represented nary
session,
removal of Alaska and Power, in particular the the Kingdom of Alaska. Rapporteur stated that he
Hawaii from the list under obligation to inform the Professor Alfred de Zayas would reflect the discus-
General Assembly resolu- peoples of the territory in of the Geneva School of sion in the Committee's
and report, indicating that this
tion 1469 of 12 December their own language. The Diplomacy
1959. The United States United States military was International Relations matter belongs with the
replied that Alaska and listed in UN reports as the and former Secretary of appropriate body of the
Hawaii are the 49th and de jure population of the UN Human Rights United Nations. However,
50th state members of the Alaska and given the right Committee was of counsel the petition has not been
Union and that the self- to vote in the referenda, as and provided pertinent officially transmitted to
determination issue had were American citizens; legal advice on the issue of the General Assembly, as
been settled. The indige- this procedure contravenes self-determination referen- the IPNC and Koani conti-
practice
nous populations, howe- international
da, the principle of good nue to demand.
ver, emphatically reject the concerning other non-self- faith and the doctrine of
territories.
estoppel.
response given by the then governing
Ambassador Warren W. Reference was made to the
Tichenor, The Members of the
Permanent
Concluding Observation
Representative of the of the Human Rights Committee argued that
Mission of the United Committee calling for the their hands were tied,
States of America during United States to address because Alaska and
the dialogue with CERD. the open questions concer- Hawaii had been removed
ning the self-determina- from the list by virtue of a
The Shadow Reports tion of the indigenous peo- resolution of the General
document historical viola- ples of Alaska. Assembly in 1959, and
tions of the UN Charter that ratione temporis
and international law The Koani Foundation Article 15 no longer
based on UN principles submitted Public Law 103- applied. The representati-
and General Assembly 150, the "Apology Bill" of ves of the indigenous peo-
resolutions. Reference is 1993, where Bill Clinton, ples noted, however, that
made to the judgment of the then President of the there was an issue of a
the United States Supreme United States of America continuing violation" of
Court in the 1955 Tee-Hit- and the Congress formally the principle of self-deter-
Ton v. United States of apologized for the illegal mination and a situation of
America case, which held overthrow of the Hawaiian an ill-obtained GA resolu-
that the land in Alaska was Kingdom in 1893. tion, which was based on
for the settlement of the Documents were presen- deliberate misinformation
white race, notwithstan- ted concerning the call by and the manipulation of
ding General Assembly United States President referenda in violation of
resolution 644 of 1952 that Grover Cleveland to return the rights of the indige-
called on all administering the Hawaiian Kingdom to nous. Both Alaska and
Powers to abrogate discri- its de jure government. Hawaii were administered
minatory legislation and Koani also referred to the through puppet institutions
policy in non-self-gover- Concluding Observations created by the administe-
ning territories. This judg- of the Human Rights ring Power. Most perti-
ment relied on the earlier Committee that called for nently, it was recalled that
precedent of the 1823 additional information on General Assembly resolu-
Johnson v. McIntosh case, the illegal overthrow of the tions are not immutable
which held that the "sava- Hawaiian Kingdom. and
that
certain
ges" had to cede their terri- Resolutions, including the
tory and accept the super- The Committee agreed to "Zionism is Racism" reso-
ior genius of the European meet informally with the lution, have been lifted or
civilization. For many representatives of the indi- modified by subsequent
years the Indigenous genous people and appoin- resolution.
The
Peoples of Alaska were ted
Delegations of Alaska and
Rapporteur.
a
4 2009 Diva 29

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