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Before the Military Commission Convened by the Commanding General, United States Army Forces, Western Pacific, 1 October 1945 / Charge / United States of America vs Tomoyuki Yamashita. Mimeograph printed, stapled bound. 13x8. In two sections, composed of 27 leaves, in two sections. [++] Section One: Charges and affadavit, 2pp; Press Release concerning General Yamashita, 2pp; Press release of Defense Counsel Staff, 2pp; Trial of General Yamashita, list of Prosecutor and assistants, 4pp; Biographical Notes on General Officers, 2pp.[++] Section Two: Bill of Particulars (which has the true depth of the charges against Yamashita), 8pp; Supplemental Bill of Particulars, 7pp.+++ This is a rare mimeographed printing of the statement of charges and outline of particulars against the Japanese Imperial Army General Tomoyuki Yamashita (1885-1946), a man accused of war crimes against humanity. After he was captured 2 September 1945, General Yamashita was arraigned principally for failing to control his troops, segments of which had acted brutally in their treatment of residents of captured Singapore and against British Empire soldiers. He was charged with unlawfully disregarding and failing to discharge his duty as a commander to control the acts of members of his command by permitting them to commit war crimes. This was in direct violation the doctrine of command responsibility which was established by the Hague Conventions IV (1907) and X (1907), and after in re Yamashita would also become known as the Yamashita standard, in which courts clearly accepted that a commander's actual knowledge of unlawful actions is sufficient to impose individual criminal responsibility . Yamashita would be found guilty by the U.S. Military Tribunal and was sentenced to death, for vengeful actions are widespread offences and there is no effective attempt by a commander to discover and control the criminal acts, such a commander may be held responsible, even criminally liable. It was a death sentence for a crime of omission. (As early as the 6th century BCE, Sun Tzu, in his Art of War, stipulated that it was a commander's duty to ensure that his subordinates conducted themselves in a civilized manner during an armed conflict.) Getting back to the war: after Yamashita captured Singapore in February 1942, accepting the surrender of General Arthur Percival and 100,000+ British Army soldiers, a steel wind policy was instituted, with thousands of people soldiers and civilians finding their end at the point of Japanese soldiers bayonets. Chief among the atrocities was the Sook Ching movement, a concerted, pervasive and prolonged ethnic cleansing of Singapore of anti-Japanese undesirable elements. Among these groups were included (and this list is taken from a rather good contribution to Wikipedia): "Persons who had been active in the China Relief Fund; Rich men who had given most generously to the Relief Fund; Adherents of Tan Kah Kee, leader of the Nanyang National Salvation Movement; Hainanese, who were believed to be communists. China-born Chinese who came to Malaya after the 1937 Sino-Japanese War Men with tattoo marks, who were believed to be members of secret societies, specifically Triads Persons who fought for the British as volunteers against the Japanese. Government servants and men who were likely to have pro-British sympathies, such as Justices of the Peace, and members of the Legislative Council. Persons who possessed arms and tried to disturb public safety." In short, it didn't take all that much to be considered for elimination, and a long and frozen fear and ruthless hearts-and-minds- campaign was instituted which lasted until the Philippines were finally liberated.[Write me for more details.].
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