Haruo Remeliik
{{Short description|First President of Palau}}
{{Redirect|Remeliik|the patrol boat named after him|PSS Remeliik}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = His Excellency
| name = Haruo Remeliik
| image = File:Haruo Ignacio Remeliik.jpg
| caption = Taken around 1976
| office = 1st President of Palau
| term_start = 2 March 1981
| term_end = 30 June 1985
| vicepresident = Alfonso Oiterong
| predecessor = Office established
| successor = Thomas Remengesau Sr. (acting)
| birth_name = Haruo Ignacio Remeliik
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1931|6|1}}
| birth_place = Peleliu, South Seas Mandate (present day Palau)
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1985|6|30|1931|6|1}}
| death_place = Koror, Palau
| death_cause = Assassination by gunshots
| occupation =
| party = Independent
| spouse = Regina Remeliik
}}
Haruo Ignacio Remeliik (1 June 1931 – 30 June 1985) was the first President of Palau from 2 March 1981 until his assassination on 30 June 1985. He is buried at Kloulklubed in his home state of Peleliu. Remeliik was of mixed Japanese and Palauan descent.{{cite book|title=Asia in the Pacific Islands|author=Ron Crocombe|author-link=Ron Crocombe|year=2007|pages=103, 112|publisher=University of the South Pacific, Institute of Pacific Studies|isbn=978-982-02-0388-4}}
Early life
Remeliik studied priesthood in Truk. Later he returned to Palau and became an associate judge. In 1968, he won a seat in Palau legislature and became vice speaker. In 1970 he was appointed as deputy district administrator for the Palau district of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.{{cite journal|last=Shuster|first=Donald R.|title=Elections, Compact, and Assassination in the Republic of Palau|date=November 1988|journal=Pacific Studies|volume=12|number=1|pages=23–48|publisher=Brigham Young University–Hawaii|access-date=June 26, 2024|url=http://ojs-dev.byuh.edu/index.php/pacific/article/download/2847/2755|archive-date=August 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822202749/http://ojs-dev.byuh.edu/index.php/pacific/article/download/2847/2755|via=Internet Archive}} In 1978 he became a member and later also president of the constitutional convention. In 1980, he was elected as the first President of Palau, and he won re-election in 1984.
Death
Remeliik was shot in the driveway of his home by an unidentified gunman.{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DEFDF1F39F932A35754C0A963948260|title=No Arrests in Slaying Of Pacific Island Leader|author=Associated Press|newspaper=New York Times|department=Section A|page=5|date=July 1, 1985|access-date=June 26, 2024}} Six months after the killing, two relatives of Roman Tmetuchl and another man were arrested in connection to the killing; however, they were later released.{{cite news|last=Shenon|first=Philip|title=Convictions Reversed in Island Slaying|department=Section A|page=16|date=July 21, 1987|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=June 26, 2024|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/21/us/convictions-reversed-in-island-slaying.html}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uBcp1CguyeMC&dq=Haruo+Remeliik+shot+home&pg=PA67|title=Embattled Island: The Assassination of Palau's First President|first=Arnold|last=Leibowitz|date=February 16, 1996|access-date=June 26, 2024|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|location=Bloomsbury|isbn=9780275953904}} The case went through two different U.S.-based prosecutors before being tried in 1997. In March 2000, former presidential candidate and convicted felon John O. Ngiraked claimed responsibility for the conspiracy to kill Remeliik.{{cite web|last=Whaley|first=Floyd|title=True Crime in the Pacific: The Mysterious Assassination of Haruo Remeliik|date=January 24, 2024|publisher=Medium|access-date=July 30, 2024|url=https://medium.com/@floydwhaley/true-crime-in-the-pacific-the-mysterious-assassination-of-haruo-remeliik-5c67b8d1b613}}{{cite book |title=Roman Tmetuchl: A Palauan Visionary |publisher=Roman Tmetuchl Family Trust |isbn=982-9064-01-8 |last=Shuster |first=Donald R. |year=2002 |page=129}} Persistent allegations that Remeliik was killed by the CIA due to his firm anti-nuclear stance have continued after the trial and Ngiraked's confession.{{Cite news|last=Rampell|first=Ed|title=Dirty tricks and regime change in nuclear-free Palau|date=June 30, 2015|newspaper=Pacific Scoop|publisher=Pacific Media Centre|url=https://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2015/06/dirty-tricks-and-regime-change-in-nuclear-free-palau/ |access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704035347/https://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2015/06/dirty-tricks-and-regime-change-in-nuclear-free-palau/|archive-date=July 4, 2015|language=en|location=Auckland}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite news |last=Corry |first=John |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/02/movies/20-20-examines-toruble-in-palau.html |title='20/20' EXAMINES TROUBLE IN PALAU |work=The New York Times |date=2 July 1987 |access-date=3 August 2016}}
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{{succession box|title=President of Palau|before=New office|after=Thomas Remengesau Sr.|years=1981–1985}}
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{{PalauPresidents}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Remeliik, Haruo}}
Category:Oceania politicians assassinated in the 1980s
Category:National presidents assassinated in the 20th century
Category:20th-century Palauan politicians
Category:Assassinated heads of state in Oceania
Category:Assassinated Palauan politicians
Category:Politicians assassinated in 1985
Category:Deaths by firearm in Palau
Category:Palauan politicians of Japanese descent
Category:People murdered in Palau
Category:Unsolved murders in Palau
Category:20th-century presidents in Oceania
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