March 3, 2000

Mr. John Crook
Assistant Legal Adviser for United Nations Affairs
Office of the Legal Adviser
United States Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Room 3422 NS
Washington, D.C. 20520

Re: Letter confirming telephone conversation of March 3, 2000 relating to arbitral proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Lance Paul Larsen vs. The Hawaiian Kingdom

Sir,

     This letter is to confirm our telephone conversation today at Washington, D.C. The day before our conversation Ms. Ninia Parks, esquire, Attorney for the Claimant, Mr. Lance Larsen, and myself, Agent for the Respondent, Hawaiian Kingdom, met with Sonia Lattimore, Office Assistant, L/EX, at 10:30 a.m. on the ground floor of the Department of State. I presented her with two (2) binders, the first comprised of an Arbitration Log Sheet, Lance Paul Larsen vs. The Hawaiian Kingdom, with accompanying documents on record before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands. The second binder comprised of divers documents of the Acting Council of Regency as well as diplomatic correspondence with treaty partners of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

     I stated to Ms. Lattimore that the purpose of our visit was to provide these documents to the Legal Department of the U.S. Department of State in order for the U.S. Government to be apprised of the arbitral proceedings already in train and that the Hawaiian Kingdom, by consent of the Claimant, extends an opportunity for the United States to join in the arbitration as a party. She assured me that the package will be given to Mr. Bob McKenna for review and assignment to someone within the Legal Department. I told her that we will be in Washington, D.C., until close of business on Friday, and she assured me that she will give me a call on my cellular phone at (808) 383-6100 by the close of business that day with a status report.

     At 4:45 p.m., Ms. Lattimore contacted myself by phone and stated that the package had been sent to yourself as the Assistant Legal Adviser for United Nations Affairs. She stated that you will be contacting myself on Friday (March 3, 2000), but I could give you a call in the morning if I desired.

     Today, at 11:00 a.m., I telephoned you and inquired about the receipt of the package. You had stated that you did not have ample time to critically review the package, but will get to it. I stated that the reason for our visit was the offer by the Respondent Hawaiian Kingdom, by consent of the Claimant, by his attorney, Ms. Ninia Parks, for the United States Government to join in the arbitral proceedings presently instituted under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands. You stated that litigation in the court system is handled by the Justice Department and not the State Department, and that you felt they (Justice Dept.) would be very reluctant to join in the present arbitral proceedings.

     I responded by assuring that the State Department should review the package in detail and can get back to the Acting Council of Regency by phone for continued dialogue. I gave you our office's phone number at (808) 239-5347, of which you acknowledged. I assured you that we did not need an immediate answer, but out of international courtesy the offer is still open, notwithstanding arbitral proceedings already in motion. I also advised you that Secretary-General van den Hout of the Permanent Court of Arbitration was aware of our travel to Washington, D.C. and the offer to join in the arbitration. As I stated in our conversation he requested that the dialogue be reduced to writing and filed with the International Bureau of the Permanent Court of Arbitration for the record, and you acknowledged. The conversation then came to a close.

     I have taken the liberty of enclosing Hawaiian diplomatic protests lodged by my former countrymen and women in the U.S. Department of State in the summer of 1897, on record at your National Archives, in order for you to understand the gravity of the situation. I have also enclosed two (2) recent protests by myself as an officer of the Hawaiian Government against the State of Hawai'i for instituting unwarranted criminal proceedings against myself and other Hawaiian subjects and a resident of the Hawaiian Islands under the guise of American municipal laws within the territorial dominion of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

     If after a thorough investigation into the facts presented to your office, and following zealous deliberations as to the considerations herein offered, the Government of the United States shall resolve to decline our offer to enter the arbitration as a Party, the present arbitral proceedings shall continue without affect pursuant to the Hague Conventions IV and V, 1907, and the UNCITRAL Rules of arbitration.

With Sentiments of the Highest Regard,

[signed] David Keanu Sai,
Acting Minister of Interior and
Agent for the Hawaiian Kingdom

cc:	Secretary General van den Hout, Permanent Court of Arbitration Ms. Ninia Parks, Esquire, attorney for Lance Paul Larsen Mr. Keoni Agard, Esquire, appointing authority Ms. Noelani Kalipi, Esquire, Hawai'i Senator Akaka's Legislative Assistant