Hawaiians take heart. The International Criminal Court has determined the intentional destruction of cultural sites can be ruled a War Crime. The 27th Sept. 2016 judgment has no power yet to punish those who've desecrated
Native Hawaiian places, but it brings forward that day pono is restored in Hawai'i.
In ICC Prosecutor v. Al Mahdi, (evaluating the occupation & destruction around Timbuktu), the Court noted crimes against property are generally of less gravity than crimes against persons, but the targeted sites were religious buildings with a symbolic and emotional value for local inhabitants.
UNESCO hails this historic decision for heritage protection:"Deliberate attacks on culture have become weapons of war in a global strategy of cultural cleansing seeking to destroy people as well as the monuments bearing their identities, institutions of knowledge and free thought."
The USA has systematically destroyed native cultures and marginalized the remnants. Many war criminals pass away with souvenirs of abuse decorating their walls; beyond reach of the ICC. Yet this is an alarm to them & their heirs: the world is watching.
Unsurprisingly, the ICC judgment has seen little publicity in American corporate media. But The Japan Times is on record with their stirring editorial, "A historic ruling to protect culture" (link)
Hawaiians cannot as yet bring the United States of America to justice in front of the International Criminal Court. Yet we can resist conquest, and we can understand & document ongoing atrocities and war crimes.
Important Native Hawaiian places have been, and are still being, deliberately vandalized. Such offenses include military installations & golf on Mōkapu (Heleloa funeral grounds), replacement of Puowaina heiau with Punchbowl cemetery, etc.
RESIST CONQUEST
In ICC Prosecutor v. Al Mahdi, (evaluating the occupation & destruction around Timbuktu), the Court noted crimes against property are generally of less gravity than crimes against persons, but the targeted sites were religious buildings with a symbolic and emotional value for local inhabitants.
UNESCO hails this historic decision for heritage protection:"Deliberate attacks on culture have become weapons of war in a global strategy of cultural cleansing seeking to destroy people as well as the monuments bearing their identities, institutions of knowledge and free thought."
 |
| Respect for Culture (Roerich) |
The USA has systematically destroyed native cultures and marginalized the remnants. Many war criminals pass away with souvenirs of abuse decorating their walls; beyond reach of the ICC. Yet this is an alarm to them & their heirs: the world is watching.
Unsurprisingly, the ICC judgment has seen little publicity in American corporate media. But The Japan Times is on record with their stirring editorial, "A historic ruling to protect culture" (link)
Hawaiians cannot as yet bring the United States of America to justice in front of the International Criminal Court. Yet we can resist conquest, and we can understand & document ongoing atrocities and war crimes.
Important Native Hawaiian places have been, and are still being, deliberately vandalized. Such offenses include military installations & golf on Mōkapu (Heleloa funeral grounds), replacement of Puowaina heiau with Punchbowl cemetery, etc.
RESIST CONQUEST
