The International Military Tribunal for the Far East

The origins of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) go back to 1st December 1943 and to the Cairo Conference during which the three Allies, China, United States and Great Britain, decided that it was time to bring the war to an end and to punish Japanese aggression. Article 10 of the Potsdam declaration of July 1945, which again brought together China, Great Britain and the United States, required that justice be done with respect to all war criminals and especially to those who had inflicted inhumane treatment on prisoners. The contents of the Potsdam Declaration were notably included in the Japanese Surrender Treaty of 2 September 1945, and the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces took a firm commitment to apply the conditions which were listed therein. Mention was also made of the immediate release of the allied prisoners of war as well as the civilians imprisoned by the Japanese forces. In line with this, the United Nations War Crimes Commission (created in the summer of 1943 in London), also recommended the establishment of an International Military Tribunal to judge the crimes and atrocities committed by the Japanese. In reaction to these developments the U.S. State Department adopted the "Policy of Arrest and Punishment of War Criminals in the Far East," with which it notified the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers and eight nations (Australia, Britain, Canada, China, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, the Soviet Union, and the United States) to organize the tribunal.

It was at the Moscow Conference that the headquarters for the Tribunal was assigned to Tokyo and it was therefore entirely logical, following approval by the United States General, Douglas MacArthur, to the Charter constituting this Tribunal that, on 19 January 1946, the International Military Tribunal came into being. In May of the same year a trial began of 28 Japanese War Criminals in Class A (a category which included Crimes against Peace, and which was aimed only at those in the upper echelons of power and at those who had planned and conducted the war). These were the only ones to be tried amongst the 80 criminals in this category being held by the Allies. It is worthwhile remembering that, at the time, Japan was under American occupation, that the United States had provided the funds and the staff necessary for the running of the Tribunal and also held the function of Chief Prosecutor. It thus appeared difficult to reconcile these different elements with the requirement of impartiality with which such an organ should be invested and this gave the impression that it was a simple mechanism to dispense victor’s justice.