740.00114A Pacific War/543: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland (Harrison)
1602. American interests—Japan. Legation’s 3389 June 4th and 3593, June 16th. Request Swiss Government to have Swiss Minister [Page 996] Tokyo communicate textually the following to the Japanese Government:
“The United States Government has received the Japanese Government’s communication of May 28, 1943 to the Swiss Minister at Tokyo and has noted both the assurance that the Japanese Government will communicate the results of the investigation of each instance of mistreatment of an American national in Japanese hands which has been reported by the United States Government, and the reassurance that the Japanese Government will apply the provisions of the Geneva Prisoners of War Convention of 1929 to the treatment of prisoners of war in its hands and that it will apply reciprocally the provisions of the same convention to the treatment of civilian internees in so far as those provisions are adaptable.
The United States Government continues to attach the greatest importance to the granting of Japanese permission for Swiss representatives to visit all prisoner of war and civilian internment camps in Japan and Japanese-occupied territory, particularly those in Taiwan, the Philippines, Java and Malaya, and the camps in Indo-China operated by the Japanese authorities, and for the appointment of delegates of the International Red Cross Committee for these areas to carry on the recognized functions of such delegates including the visiting and reporting on conditions in camps. In this connection the United States Government wishes to remind the Japanese Government that Article 86 of the Geneva Prisoner of War Convention provides that representatives of the protecting Power shall be permitted to go to any place without exception, where prisoners of war are interned.
Note has been taken of the Japanese Government’s statements that in some areas the necessity of protecting the security of Japanese armed forces and other strategic considerations make it unavoidable for the time being not to allow free activities by nationals of a third State in those areas. It is observed, however, that Taiwan has been under Japanese control for many years and that the Philippines, Java and Malaya have been occupied by Japanese military forces for many months.
The Japanese Government is also reminded that Article 7 of the Geneva Convention provides that prisoners of war shall be evacuated from the zone of combat in the shortest period possible after their capture. The United States Government considers that the Japanese Government has obligated itself under this provision of the Convention to remove American nationals held as prisoners of war or civilian internees from areas where active military operations are being carried on to camps outside those areas where representatives of the Swiss Government and the delegates of the International Red Cross Committee may visit them.
Recognizing that rumors with regard to conditions of internment naturally tend to arise in time of war, whether or not they have any basis in fact, the United States Government has granted every facility to the Spanish representatives charged with the protection of Japanese interests in the continental United States and to the delegates of the International Red Cross Committee to the end that the Japanese Government might have unbiased neutral reports on conditions in prisoner of war camps, internment camps, and relocation centers where Japanese [Page 997] nationals in the United States are gathered. Moreover, visits by Swedish and International Red Cross representatives have been permitted to those camps in the Hawaiian Islands where any Japanese are interned.
The best assurance that Japan is fulfilling its undertaking to apply the provisions of the Geneva Prisoners of War Convention to the treatment of prisoners of war in its hands and to the treatment of civilian internees, in so far as those provisions are adaptable to civilians, would be afforded by allowing representatives of the Swiss Government to discharge their obligation to visit all camps where prisoners of war and civilian internees are held, and by allowing delegates of the International Red Cross Committee to carry on the recognized functions of their office. The failure of the Japanese Government to grant reciprocal facilities for the neutral inspection of civilian internment and prisoner of war camps in all areas under Japanese control can lead only to the conclusion that the reports of American nationals held by the Japanese authorities being treated in a manner far below the standards of the Geneva Convention are not mere rumors but are grounded upon fact.”
Transmit copy of this telegram to International Red Cross Committee for its information and request it to continue pressing Japanese Government to allow International Red Cross delegates to perform their recognized functions in the areas mentioned.