Of all the examples Davies could have presented to claim "fair process" in these tribunals, Yamashita was the weakest. And I'm glad he noted that this was a VERY controversial case.
I remember reading about that particular war crimes trial back in the late '80s, and while I don't remember all the details, I was left with the feeling that McArthur had rail-roaded him, and held him accountable for crimes committed by subordinates, despite the fact that he given no such orders, nor were there any such standing orders issued by him.
In fact, he'd only been in command a few weeks in the Phillipines, when McArthur invaded in Oct, 1944.
Read the following and decide for yourselves:
waikato.ac.nz
Yamashita was executed, while SS war criminals, such as Joachim Peiper, known to be ruthless against both the US and Russians, and who's troops were responsible for the Malmedy Massacre, were only sentenced to jail (and their sentences later reduced).
Executing Yamashita for alledged war crimes, would have been tantamount to executing Rommel over the crimes of the Das Reich SS division as it massacred French civilians enroute to Normandy, despite the fact he had no operational control over SS troops.
Hawk |
