740.00116 PW/1–1249
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas (Saltzman) to the United States Member of the Far Eastern Commission (McCoy)
Subject: Trial of Japanese War Criminals (FEC–314 Series)
If questions are raised as to whether SCAP has determined that there shall be no more international war crimes trials on Class A charges and whether he has proclaimed the termination of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, you should call attention to MI–001/159, Section 2, Part I (Operations Report, Japan, 27 December 1948) and you should state that you are not informed of any formal announcement or proclamation by SCAP of the termination of the Tribunal.
If a move develops to withdraw the paper, you are instructed to oppose its withdrawal and to propose instead that, since the difficulty in respect to FEC–314/41 has arisen in respect to the second part thereof (“recommendations” in respect to B and C trials), the entire paper should be recast in the form of a policy decision, the second part being made applicable specifically only to Japan, as set forth in the following amendment.
“The Far Eastern Commission decides as a matter of policy that:
“No further trials of Japanese war criminals should be initiated in respect to offenses classified under paragraph 1a of the policy decision of the Far Eastern Commission entitled ‘Apprehension, Trial and Punishment of War Criminals in the Far East’ (FEC–007/3), passed by the Commission on 3 April 1948; and that if possible, investigations in Japan in connection with offenses falling under paragraphs 1b and 1c of the policy decision of the Far Eastern Commission entitled ‘Apprehension, Trial and Punishment of War Criminals in the Far East’ (FEC–007/3), passed by the Commission on 3 April 1946,2 including such offenses alleged to have been committed by persons suspected of offenses falling under paragraph 1a of the said policy decision, should [Page 619] be completed before 31 March 1948, and all trials in Japan thereof should be concluded if possible before 30 September 1949.”
If a question is raised again as to the jurisdiction of the Military Tribunals trying B and C offenses in Japan, you should restate the opinion of your Government along the lines set forth in the memorandum addressed to you on November 16, 1948.3
If a question is raised as to why SCAP made the decision referred to in MI–001/159 not to try the 17 released Class A suspects on A charges before an international tribunal, you may state that you are not informed but assume that this was done because the IPS had not recommended that they be indicted.
- See supra.↩
- Department of State, Activities of the Far Eastern Commission, p. 97.↩
- See footnote 2, Foreign Relations, 1948, vol. vi, p. 884.↩