740.00116 European War (1939)/1079: Airgram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Winant )
Washington
, September 25,
1943—5 p.m.
A–1291. Your airgram A–967, September 1, 5 p.m., regarding War Crimes Commission.
- 1.
- The Department authorizes you to attend the meeting of the diplomatic representatives.
- 2.
- The Department sees no objection to the British proposal that the Commission be empowered to set up panels or arrange otherwise in the light of the wishes of the Governments most closely concerned for local investigations on its behalf when appropriate.
- 3.
- Likewise, the Department has no objection to the proposal by the Soviet Government that the Chairmanship of the Commission might be held in rotation by the representatives of Great Britain, the United States, China, and the Soviet Union, nor does it object to the suggestion of the British Government that this matter might be left to the Commission. The Department would, however, desire to be consulted before the conferring of the Chairmanship upon the American representative.
- 4.
- The Department sees no objection to leaving to the Commission settlement of its rules of procedure.
- 5.
- The selection of a British Secretary General would be agreeable to the Department. The Department is not now prepared to suggest names for the Secretarial staff. Mr. Pell will take with him an assistant and a secretary, but they would not be members of the Secretarial staff.
- 6.
- The British proposal regarding expenses is satisfactory, but we should like to know as soon as possible the estimated amount of our quota.
- 7.
- The Department agrees that a technical committee for the purposes indicated in the British memorandum may be desirable, but it does not see why the setting up of this committee should precede the establishment of the investigating commission. The Department is considering whether this Government should have a representative on the committee and will communicate with you further on this subject.
Hull