MILITARY TRIALS OF JAPANESE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 300, 20 December 1945, Page 5

MILITARY TRIALS OF JAPANESE

FIRST SESSIONS BEGIN J UNITED NATIONS AFFAIR j ONE MEMBER .OF COURT NOT ! ELIGIBLE Recd. 9 p.m. Tokio, Dec. IS A start is being made with Uie trials of (he first batch of suspected Japanese war criminals, such trials being the first United Nations trials in the Pacific area. Among those to be tried is General Homma, who has been arraigned on charges relating <o his command of the Japanese fo.ces in the Philippines. The Military Commission which is trying this batch of prisoners differs from that which tried General Yamashita. That commission was under purely Uni led Slates jurisdiction, I whereas the present Court has been set up under a directive from General MacArthur as Allied commander-in-chief.

Coolnel Joseph Hall, who was captured in the Philippines and wno -pent three years as a prisoner in Japanese hands, after participating in the Ba Tan “death march” has been relieved of his duties as a member of the Commission. This action was taken when counsel for the defence claimed that Colonei Hal] was not fit to judge impartially. Colonel Hall was asked if he wa.» ever beaten up and he replied, “often.” Asked if he ever received kind treatment, he replied, "never,” but claimed he was unprejudiced, except regarding incidents in which he himself participated.

The highlights of the first session of the trials were a plea of not guilty by Tatsup Tsuchiya, a prison guard, accused of beating prisoners to death with knotted ropes and torturing others, and a pro ecution announcement that the death penalty would be demanded because of the seriousness of the crimes.

Tsuchiya sat impassively as Interpreters related how he and other guards tortured the prisoners, stole food from others and also compelled British and Americans to line up and slap each others’ faces while the guards looked on laughingly. Laying a patter for the trials of 400 others similarly charged, the bulk of the evidence will comprise statements made bv prisoners. Almost the only spoken testimony will be given by doctors who lai er examined the men.

The prosecution, in the Tsuchiya case, introduced copies of letters between the then American Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell Hull, and the Japanese Government agreeing that the United States and Japan would abide by the 1929 Geneva Convention, in the handling of prisoners of war. General Homma will be charged with, firstly, that between December 8, 1941, and August 15. 1942, when a lieul.-gene:al in the J?.nane.e Army commander-in-chief of the Philippines, he failed to control his troops, permitting them to commit atrocities; secondly, that on May 6, 1942, he refused to gram quarter to American and Allied forces in Manila Bay after a white flag had been raised. The charges are backed by 43 specifications in which Homma is charged with responsibility for 80,735 slayings and torturings listed, plus many others. There are more than 20,000 more crimes listed against Homma than agains; The first specification accused Homma wantonly bombing Manila after it was declared an open city. Homma will be tried ‘ under a directive of General MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Yamashita was tried under a directive by General MacArthur as commander of the United States Army Forces in the Pacific, which enabled Yamashita to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Momma’s trial is thus ostensibly a United Nations affair, outside of the jurisdiction of any domestic civil court.

The Military Commis ion trying Homma has been appoined, like the Yamashita Court, by Lieut.-General S«yer, commander o lhe Army Forces in the Western Pacmc.