Cablegram 52 TOKYO, 16 February 1946, 7.42 a.m.
SECRET
The suggestion has been made that the Japanese Government be included in the indictment as a prosecuting party. [1] This is based on the fact that by the terms of surrender the Japanese Government accepted the provisions of the Potsdam agreement [2] and that the latter included provision that stern justice be meted out to war criminals. It is also suggested that the inclusion would make trials more effective as far as the Japanese people and the world in general are concerned.
It is not proposed that the Japanese Government be represented at the trial by judge or prosecutor. Please advise Australia’s attitude towards the suggestion. Welcome with pleasure Major Mornane’s [3] appointment.
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1 Cablegram 23 of 26 January from Tokyo reported SCAP officers’ confidential advice that MacArthur’s proclamation on the establishment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was so drafted as to make the Japanese Govt a parry to the prosecution of major war criminals.
2 See Volume VIII, Document 163.
3 T. F. Mornane, Assistant Crown Solicitor in Victoria, was appointed as Mansfield’s assistant, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
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[AA:A1067, UN46/WC/15]