The Evening Star (December 15, 1945)
Destroyed documents hamper preparation for Jap war trials
TOKYO (AP) – Joseph B. Keenan, who will prosecute Hideki Tojo and other Japanese leaders accused of launching the Pacific war, said today the Japanese have “destroyed, altered or secreted” documents which might establish the guilt of the men to be tried.
“The men we are going to try, or their friends, had many days in which to act before our troops landed,” Mr. Keenan declared. “Documents have been destroyed, altered or secreted.”
To aid the prosecution, Mr. Keenan plans to send Otto Lowe of Cape Charles, Virginia, a member of his staff, to Germany to obtain any documents used in European war crimes trials which might bear on the Japanese trials. The latter hearings are expected to begin about February 1.
Situation different
Mr. Keenan commented: “It is a different situation here than in Germany. There the Nazi government was stubborn to the end and when it cracked there was no government to destroy documents that pointed to the guilt of the men now being tried there.”
Pointing out Japan’s long-established policy of secretiveness, Mr. Keenan said his group has to “dig out everything we get.”
Japanese isolation is another factor making his work difficult, he asserted. In Europe much information about war crimes suspects could be obtained from persons who moved from or traveled in Germany. Such activities were limited in Japan before and during the war.
It is believed here that ex-Premier Tojo and some of his cabinet members will be nominated for the first trials.
December 18 trial date set
In Yokohama, December 18 was announced as the trial date for the first of approximately 300 small-fry Japanese charged with mistreatment of Allied prisoners. A commission of the Eighth Army will conduct the trials.
The Japanese government shakeup continued with the appointment of Adm. Baron Kantaro Suzuki, former aide de camp to Emperor Hirohito and premier of the last wartime cabinet, as president of the Privy Council. He succeeds Baron Kichiro Hiranuma, war criminal suspect.
Meanwhile, as the House of Representatives passed a labor union law, the government extended the current special Diet session for four days. The House-approved measure provides workers with the right to organize and bargain collectively.