Detore the llILITARY COllllISSION convened by the COIOIAHDING GENERAL, United States Army Forces, Western Pacific '
UNITED STATF.s OF AMERICA ) ) vs ) PUBLIC TRIAL ) SEIICHI OHTA )
VOLUME V
PAGF.s 374 TO 402
MANILA, P. I. DATE 31 !;ecerr:ber 1945' COPY NO• __6__
I J -
AUTHENTICATION
THIS CERTIFIF.S that this volume is a ,Ja1·t of the Official Record of the Proceedings of the Military Commission appointed by Para g1·aph 311, Special Orders l??, Headquarters, United States Army Forces, Western Paci.fie,
dc::ced :'_? December 1945', in the trial or.. the
Gase 01 United States of America against
Se~. ~- ch-4.. Ohta.
Yl~~i (Jr6tf cµ._ Colonel, Uni~ed S~ates Army President of Commission
Duted .2. Y- .Tanuary 1946 •
BEFORE THE MILITARY COJDaSSION convened b)' the COl&IAIDING GENERAL, United States Army Forces, Western Pacific
UIITED STATES OF AMERICA ) ) vs ) PUBLIC TRIAL ) SEIICHI OHTA )
High Comm1ss1oners 1 s Residence, Jlanila, P. I. 31 December 194~
Ket, pursue.nt to adjournment., at 0830 hours. MEMBERS OF MILITARY COllllISSION: Col)nel Edward L. Supple, CAC, President Colonel F'rancis A. Hausej CAC Major Belmont S. Evans, r. , CAC llajor llark D. Null, QKC (absent) Captain Kilbourn Gordon, Jr., Int. FOR THE PROSECUTION: 1st Lieutenant Samuel B. Gill, Int. 1st Lieutenant Theodore J. Raczka, CAC FOR THE DEFENSE: Captain Matthew J. Walsh, QllC 1st Lieutenant Yandell Boatner, FA INTERPRETERS FOR THE COllMISSIONs Lieutenant c. F. Huston, Chief Interpreter Sergeant Susumu Bonda Sergeant George Baba Jesus Villereal w. I. Lavengco ..I'.
OFFICIAL REPORTERS FOR THE COMMISSION: Marjoria Tittle Seymer L. Cash r
··1Tr:sssEs
DIRECT CROSS P.ZD I REC T RECr.OE S
Gc:.ston •::111oqu0t 388 399 400
GENEF\hL
Mfidavit of ?~._ ts lido Junzo 375 Affidavit of Asao Nc.r. iki 382 Affida vit of \J~g 'l... ien Shen 384 P R 0 C E E D I N G S
~ha Commission convened at 0830 hours, 31 Decem ber 1945, pursuant to adjournment. COLONEL SUPPLE: The Commission will now be in session. LIEUTENANT GILL: Sir, all members of the Commission are present, the accused, his Comisel, and Counsel for the Prosecution. COLONEL SUPPLE: You may proceed. LIEUTENANT GILL: At this time, may it please the Commission, the Prosecution would like to call the Court's attention to the fact that certain statements were read into the record during the first two days of the trial which contained certain information of inci dents occurring subsequent to Septe~ber 30 which have no relevant connection to the issues before this Com mission. Ther efore the Prosecution moves that that portion of these statements containing r ef erence to events subsequent to the 30th of September be deleted from t he r ecord. COLONEL SUPPLE: Will you enumerate the facts and get the page numbers of the r ef er ence . LIEUTENANT GILL: At this time the Prosecution r equests a delay L~ naming the page numbers of the r ecord inasmuch as we do not have the complet e r ecord. I would like to have the motion in the r ecord bef or e the Prose cution r ests. COLONEL SUPPLE: The Commissioa cannot pass on it until the moti on states the r efer ences.
374 r
LIEUTENANT GILL: I would like to request the Commission to reserve its ruling until such time as I can enumerate the r eferences. COLONEL SUPPLE: Granted. LIEUTENANT GILL: Sir, at this time I have the sworn statement of Uatsudo Junzo Tihich was taken on 30 September before Lieutenant Paul w. White and Theodora J. Raczka in Manila. I desire to incorporate a portion.of this statement into evidence and r ead it into the record. COLONEL SUPPLE: This uitness is unavailable? LIEUTENANT GILL: This witness is available.
He is in LUPOW. However, he can testify only as to infor , mation that is already before the Commission. It is merely cxrroborative t estimony of previous testim~ny, and we feel it would be a Tiaste of time to have him here to testify. COLONEL SUPPLE: Does t~e Defense desire to
comment on this? CAPTAIN WALSH: The Defense will object to the admissio!l of this statement. The Prosecutor has stated the vii tness is available . In the interest of the accused he should be allo,·1Cd to face as many of these witnesses as possible in order to cross-examine them. LIEUTENANT GILL: May it please the Commission, I would like to point out if the Defense desires to call this witness as their witness they are at ·liberty to have
the witness summoned. COLOi~EL SUPPLE = The affidavit will be accepted
by the Commission.
375
I (Whereupon Lieutenant Gill r ead said statement
as follows : ) "Q Who was in charge of the party of soldiers that executed the Chinese Consul officials at the Chinese
Cemetery? "A First Lieutenant Yanase . Lieutenant Yanase was
the senior officer in charge and under him was the inter preter Takamiye and I wes under Takamiya. Takamiya was a civilian attached to the Army. "Q How do you account for the fact that a civilian interpret er had a superior rank to you as a warrant officer? "A Because in the Japanese Army many times civilians were attached and temporarily given the authority of offi cers, and Takc.miya had the authority of an officer. "Q Do you r ememb er the number of Chinese Consul
officials who wer e executed? "A I am not exactly sure but I think there were
seven or eight. "Q This happened about three o'clock in the after-
noon ? I s that correct? "A I am not not sure whether it was morning or
afternoon. "Q What was the chain of command from Lieutenant
Yanase to Gener al Eomma? "A The chaiI1 of command \"-las from Lieutenant Yanase whose superior officer was Me jor Kodama in charge of the Intelligence Section, and then Ma jor Kodama was under Colonel Ohta who uas Chi-ef of Military Police . Colonel Ohta Y1as directly r esponsible to Gener al H~mma 's headquarters.
376
I "Q How do you know that these seven or eight men who wer e ~ xe cut e d were Chinese Consul officials? "A I did not know at the time but heard that they were members of the Chinese Consul later. From whom? "A I vaguely r emember that a report was made from Ma jor Kodama r egarding the execution of the Chinese Consul party and as I handled the documents I r emember r eading
1 t. "Q Then you actually saw the document reporting the execution of the Chinese Consul officials? Is that true?
"A I don't remember too clearly but I am sure that I wrote such a r eport. "Q In the r eport did you sta'te that these were Chine se Consul officials? "A I think I did. "Q To whom was this r eport addressed? "A To t he Army headquarters. "Q Would t hat be Gener al Homma 's headquarters? "A Ye s. That would be Gener al Homma •s headquarters because orders came from his headquarters from the Military Police f orce and it was r eported back t o Gener al Homma's headquarters. "Q Then the orders t o execute Chinese Consul
official s came from Gener al Hom.ma ' s headquarters, JS that
right? "A Yes, because vie made a r eport to Gener al Homma ' s headouar t er s so I pr esume t het t he order s must have come
377 I
down from there. "Q Who actually issued the orders from headquarters for the execution of the Chinese Consul officials?
"A Major Kodama. "Q All of the soldiers involved in the execution of the Chinese Consul officials were members of the Kempei
Tai, is that correct?
11A Yes. "Q These Chinese Consul officials were confined at Fort Santiago before they were executed, is that correct? "A I am not sure about that point, but they may have been confined at the Philippine University. I don't lalow where they were confined immediately before the execution, but when I came out of the building they were in the yard at Fort Santiago on the day of the execution. "Q Do you r emember whether their hands were tied
behind their backs? "A They were already in a car so I did not see. "Q Wer e ther e not three cars that went with the
executi on party? "A I think there wer f.: about four. It has been quite a while so I can't r ememb er exactly the number. " C} Do you think you would r ecognize a picture of
any of these Consul offici als v1ho \Ver e executed that
afterr.oon? "A I don't think I would. "Q This h e_ppened about the middle of April 1942,
is that correct? "A 1 am quite sur e it was about that time.
378 ...
"Q I am showing you a picture marked Exhibit A, Report No , 33, War Crimes Branch, JAGD. Do you recog nize any men in this picture who were executed that afternoon? "A I don't remember the rest or the men as it has been such a long time ago, but I think I remember this man (pointing at picture or Dr. Young). I remember him because he was the t allest man and he was standing in front of' the whole group. I don't r emernb ~r exactly how many were there but there were seven or eight, and he was the man standing in front. He was the tallest man ther e e.nd I r emember his glasses. "Q Tell us the story of' just how they were executed. "A The Consul officials wer e lined up sitting just on the edge of the grave f a cing away from the hole and facing them ther e uas one soldier f or each Consul offi cial, each armed with a pistol. First they were blind folded and seat ed and they r emained blindfolded. Captain Yanase r ead to them the order of execution through inter pret er Te kamiya. "Q Who gave the order to fire ? "A After Captain Yane. se r ead the death sentence to the Chine se , the soldiers armed with pistols lined up. Captain Yanase snid that he didn't want an or al order given because t he Chinese would be frightened, so he told me to r aise my hand and when I dropped my hand the firing commenced.
"Q How many times did the so l d~e rs fire? "A The soldiers fired about three shots each. The
379 men who actually did the firing were Military Police non-coms. "Q When you returned to Fort Santiago, did any- body make an oral report to Major Kodama or Colonel Ohta? "A I don't remember exactly but I am sure that Captain Yanase made an oral report to Major Kodama.
11 0 Was Colonel Ohte's office at Fort Santiago at this time? "A Yes, it was in Fort Santiago. "Q Did you ever see General Homma during the time
you were here? "A No, I did not. I was almost always in the office.
I saw Kodama and Ohta quite often because they were in the
office , too. "'-2 How many questioning or in,1estigating rooms were ther e at Fort S2Dtiago? "A I don't exa~tly know how many there were, but when questioning came up they used the various offices and even the reception rooms. " Q How f ar vms Colonel Ohta ' s office from the ques-
tioning rooms? "A About 15' meters. "Q If Colonel Ohta was present in his office, would he be able to hear what was happening in the questioning rooms of the Intelligence Office? "A He could not hear what went on in the question- ing rooms in his office because the questionings took place in the rooms.
380 "Q What were the buildings made ot? "A They were wooden buildings. "Q Were there windows 1n both buildings? "A Yes, there were. "Q Wer e the windows of glass or were there bars only? "A The windows were usuelly opened and there were screens to keep the insects out. "Q Were the windows 1n Colonel Ohta's office the same type? "A Yes. ''Q Who was Major Nishimura? "A He was the Commander of South Manila Military Police det achment and had his office at Fort Santiago near the Pasig River." LIEUTENANT GILL: The Prosecution fUrther has a sworn statement of 2nd Lieutenant Asao Namiki given on
3 December 1945 be ~or e Lieutenant James R. Locke and interpret ed by Micheel J. Banuvar. COLONEL SUPPLE: Has this nffidavit been shown to the Def ense ? LIEUTENANT GILL: Yes, sir. COLONEL SUPPLE: What i s the general purport of it? LIEUTENANT GILL: In gener al, it corroborat es the t estimony given on the stand by Colonel Nishiharu. COLONEL SUPPLE: Are ther e any r ema rks from the Def ense on that? CAPTAI N WALSH: The Def ense objects to the
381 r-c- t
admission or this statement on the following gro\Ulds:
It is irr ~ levant, it calls for the opinion or a witness on matters on which he could not have an accurate knowledge . It also contains matters which are outside .the time dates specified in this case. COLONEL SUPPLE: Are there any comments by the Prosecution? LIEUTENANT GILL: May it please the Commission, there is much of this statement that refers to dates outside of the time involved in the charge of this case which will not be read into the record. As tar as the irrelevancy is concerned, I believe it is a matter for the Commission to decide in giving weight to the value of this statement. COLONEL SUPPLE: Is ther e any fUrther comment by the Defense? CAPTAIN WALSH: There is no further comment. COLONEL SUPPLE: The stat ement will be admitted.
382 I LIEUTENANT GILLI I would like to read this statement into the evidence at this time, the statement of 2d Lieutenant Namiki Asao, taken in Manila on 3 Decem ber 194~, by James R. Locke, 1st Lt., CJIP and interpreted through Michael J. Banuvar1 "Q. When did you arrive in the Philippine Islr'-nds and where were you assigned upon your arrival? "A. In the latter part of December 1941 (23 Decem ber 1941) I arrived in the Philippine Islands at Lingayan where I was assigned to the 48th Division as a Military Police officer. My main duty 1n this capacity was to control actions or Japanese troops with regard to-their connec tions with civilians. I moved down with the troo;s as the Japanese Army advanced and arri ved 1n Manila on 2 January 1942 at which time I was assigned to the llilitary Police headquarters at Fort Santiago. , "Q. What was ycur assignment at Fort Santiago?
11 i~ . I was a Military Police officer and my assign ment was maintaining control over Japanese sol diers1civilians attached to the Army and Japan ese c vilians living in Manila with regard to black market activities and general relationship between Filipino civilians. "Q. Do you know anything about the Chinese Consul case? "A. Yes. "Q. Relate what you know about this case. "A. I first heard of this case sometime during the middle ~ April 1942 from a Major Ashida,who wes with the Judge Advocate's Office,and who I was dining with at Old Bilibid prison. While convers- 1ng,he menti~ned the case of the execution of the Chinese consul general and his consular officials and stated that it was a strange case in that it had neither come through the Judge Advocate•s Office or the Old Bilibid Prison office. It was very ap) arent then thnt there had been no courts martial for these men because if there was, they would h~ve been placed in Old Bilibid Prison and I, as second in command of the prisontwould cer tainly have received records and would have had definite knowledge of such courts-martial. I also remember that I hed r eceived a phone call from the Military Police headquarters on t~ morning of the day the execution t ~ ok placc, ~s king whctheriltneu ~ we conducted our exocutions,and they stated that they 383 wanted to conduct an execution. I bilieve that Ila;!~ NishimUra of the Military Police bad a good deal to do with this case and that orders bad come down rrom 11ajor General Kobayashi, who held the position ot military governor of the Philippine Islands, to Lieutenant Colonel Ohta (Ota) Seiicb11 who was bead of the ll1litary Police in the Pbilippllle Island& at that time. •Q, Did you ever see a written order or a case history pertaining to the Chinese Consul case?
"A. No, I did not. "Q, Is it not true that this procedure was against all rules and regulation• of the Japanese ArmY with re• gard to execution or anY prisoners without first having a court&- martial' "A, According to Japanese ArmY regulations, all prison ers 11111st have courts-111&rtials before they can be sentenced to death. llollever I am not in a posi ·t1on to criticize the the acts or my superior officers. "Q. Does Major General Kobayashi, as military governor of the Philippine Islands, have the power to order an execution on his own? "A. No he does not. •Q, Therefore , would not this order tor execution have had to co~e down from t he commander-in-chief, who at that time was General Hoaaa? "A, If there was no courts-111&rtial, the order undoubted ly came from the supreme coJlllil8l1Cler. However, I have not seen nor have I heard of any such order com1nl! from GHQ. "The f oregoing statements have been read and inter preted t o me, and I solemnlY affirm that they are true t o the best of my knowledge and belief'." LIEUTENANT GILLS Sir, the Prosecution has one mor e statement it would like to incorporat e into evidence and read into the r ecord. I t ts the statement ot Wang 1 Ti en Shen taken in Shanghai, China, on 30 October 1945 by Parker D. Hancock, Jlajor, JAGD , Asst Theater Judge
Advocate China Theater :
384 COLONEL SUPPLE: Does the Def ense have any com ments to offer on this statement? CAPTAI I'-r · 'ALSH: On the present one being r ead? COLONEL SUPPLB: On the one he is about to r ead. CAPTAI N ··rALSH : No comments•
C OLO ~"EL SUPPLE : The Prosecution will proceed wi t h the s tatement: LIEUT!::NANT GILL: (reading) "That I am a Chinese citizen. That I arrived in Manila, Philippine Islands, in October 1 1941. That my occupation in Manila, Philippine I slenas, ···as +hat or Assistant Manager of the Manila Office of the Ci!ina Banking Corporation. Tha t the Japanese Army entered the city of Manila on or about January 2, 1942. That on or about January 7 or 8, 1942 I together v 1ith about 30 other Chinese Nationals, wa s Interned i n the compound of the Philippine Univer s i ty in Manila. That when I was so interned t he following per sonnel, ,.,hom I person ally knew of t- he C.11nese Consulate we r e then interned in the s ai1 d compound of the Phi lippine University: "Consul-Gener al Yrmg K· ang Seng "Vice-CC'nsul Mr. Mok "Vice-Consul Mr . s. P. Chu "That I was so interned for about 30 days . That during my 30 days internment 5 other members of the Chine se Consulate, whom I personally knew , wer e brought to and i nt er ned i r. the compound of thP Philippin€ Uni ver sity, Manil a . That thesE 5 member s of t he Chinese Consula t c ··er r: "lrlr. Lu "Mr. Yao "Mr. Shao "Mr. Yeng "Mr . v!ang, son of Dr. C. T. 1'l:>ng
"That i n the firs t week of February, 19 ~2 , I wa s r el eased from inter nment but volunteer ed to stay on 1··i th the Chi r.ese Nati onals to act as inter pr et er f or them. That duri r.g the 30 days I "a s i nterned at the Philippine Uni ver s i ty compound t he Ci!inese Consul-Gener al , Yang K' ·ang Seng ·pc- s t aken by t he Japanese t o Fort Santi ago. That upon his r eturn to the compound he infor med me that the Japanese had questioned hi m about the destruction of so ·~e bank notes ancl ·1as t ol d by t hem that if the Chinese community would contr ibute 50,ccr ,ooc pesos t o the Japanese that the Chi nese Nati onal s could be r el eased. That i t wa s impos si ble to r ai se that amount of money ; ther ef or e t he matter was dr opped. That sometime i n the f irst pa r t of Ha rch, 1942 , I was r Eleased from t he Phi lippi ne Univer si t y 385 compound, at which time the Chinese prisoners other than the members of the Consulate , interned at the University compound were taken to the military prison at Biljbid. The eight members of the Chinese Consul. at e listed above wer e then r etain0d at the University compound for about a we ek, then taken to Fort Santiago. "That th6 Consul-General, Yang Kwang Seng during this period told me that he was not worried about the diplomatic personnel of the Chinese Consulate but that he was worried about the other Chinese Nationals and r equ~s t o d that I do what t could to help them. That while the personnel of the Chinese Consulate were at Fort Santiago no one except their immediate families was permitted to see them and they only once a week. That one morning in April, 1942, several of the wives of the Chinese Consulate members told me that they had had a long visit with their interned husbands at Fort Santiago and that when they left they were requested by the Japanese to take away ell clothing nnd personal belongings of the interned members of the ChinesG Con sulate, except a f ew items which could be carried in a hand bag. That Mrs. Yang, the wife of the Chinese Consul-General was one of the women who came to me o.nd informed me of this. That I then t el ephoned Majox Nisi mura, head of the Manila Branch of the Japanese Gend armie and the head of the military prison at BiliSid. I asked Major Nisimura about the dispositioh of the 8 members of the Chinese Consulate e.nd where they wer e being transferred. Major Nisimura informed me that he could not talk to me on the subject. Later the same day Major Nisimura called me on the t el ephone and asked me to meet hi~ in his apartment that afternoon with Mr. Go Co Lai, later president of the Chinese Association. That that af ternoon llr. Go Co Lai and I went to Major Nisimura•s &partJnGnt somewher e near tho AmGrican Echool in an apartment house. That we en t er ed Ma j or Nisimur ~ 's apartment and a sked him what it was he w~tcd to t ell us, Mnjor Nisimura said: "Re garding the members of the Chinese Consulate , I am sorry to inform you tha t in spite of all my efforts I could not do anything for them. Mayb~ by this time- while I'm t elling you and speaking to you they arc no longer in this world," or a statement to that effect. That Mr. Go Co Lai then asked if they were executed, could the bodies be r eturned to the f amilies for pro~e r funer al.. Ma.1or Nisimura r cplieds nThat cannot be done. I am t elling you all t his as a friend. You mus t not t ell it outside. ' hen the t i me comes , it will be given to t he papers, but until them we cannot r eveal anything," or a statement t o that eff ~ ct. That the next ~o rning a Chinl.S c man in chc.rg1;; of the ccme tery r e: portcd to Mr . Go Co Lai t hat 8 Chinese persons had been executed the day bt:f or c. That he had wi t n ... ssed t he execution in the cemetery. That about one month l a t er in the n:onth of lla y, 1942, Major Nisimura asked Mr. Go Co Lai and me to c o~ e to his office to pick up t he per sonal bel ongi ngs of the 8 member s of the Chinese Consulate hereinabove referred t o. Thst Mr . Go Co Lai end I went to Major Nisimura's office snd there received from Ma jor Nislmura, 8 separate envelopes marked for each of the 3 members of the Chinese Consulate hereinabove referred to. That Major Nisimura also told me at that time that there was a lock or hair of Cor.sul-General Yang Kwang Seng, of t he Chinese Consulate, in the en velope marked for him. That I then asked Major Nisimura about l ~ cks of hair of the other 7 members of the Chinese Consulate and that Major Nisimura told me that they only extended the courtesy of saving the lock of hair to the head of the CHinese Consulate. That I then took the 8 envelopes from Ma jor Nisimura and deli ve r ~ d them to the f amilies of the 8 memb ers of the Chinese Consulat ~ ."
I LIEUTENANT GILL: At this time the Prosecu
tion woulc like to call ~s its first witness of the morning, Gaston Willoquet. GASTON WILLOQUET called as a witness on behalf of the Prosecution having
been first duly sworn, VAS •.e~;:unine_d a.JJ.Q. te~ti_f~~·i - ~~ .foll;ows: Q (By Li eutcRJnPfCJiftf'lffJJ~~ state your full name , age , and nationality.
A Geston Willoque\. Q Age? A 58 Nationality?
A French.
Q What is your pre sent occupation? A I am now the French ConsU: General in Manila. Q "Jhat is your permar.cnt address in the Philip-
pin~ Islandsi
A My permanent address is the French Consulate.
Q ~ere you living- in the Philippines at the
outbre3.k of war between Am ~ ri ca and Japan? A Yes, I was. Q Wher e were you living at that time? A Romero Salas. Q What wa s your occupation at the outbreak of
hostilities bet ween America and Japan~
A I wa s a del egat e of Gene ral de Gaulle 's in
the Philippi~e Islands.
Q ~t t hat time , wa s ther e also a r epres cntctive of the Vichy go,·ernment in the Philippines?
388
I A There was a consul of Vichy in the Philippine Is).ands.
Q Prior to the fall of France in 1940, what was your position in the Philippines?
A I was the French Consul in Manila.
Q After the Japanese entered in Manila in Janu~ry 1942, what happened to you? On the fifth of January, I was t aken prisoner
c.·c nine o'clock in the evening by a Japanese officer and four men and what I thought was the Vice Consul of the Japanese Consllilate. And I was taken to the Jai Alai afterward. I was asked questions for three hours in the night. I was told that somebody had denounced me for having transferred my papers to my neighbors. That was false. In that r espect I would like to ask if you ce.n ask the accused who was the man who gave that infor-
mo.tion. LIEUTENANT GILL: That question may be asked him
l at~ r, but we cannot ask him during the proceedings. Aft er my tnterrogation I was left in the Jai hlai for three nights ~d two days , then taken to Villa mar Hall of the Philippine University. I wcs the first to inaugurate that detention: piace.
Q \'lhe:: branch of the military service did the men that originally picked you up bel ong to?
A Well, I think t hey wer e Military Police.
Q While y~u wa1·e at Vill:imor Hall did you see
these men aga in~ I saw the officer.. around sometime. A • ...
Did you at that time find out what organization he belonged to definitely? The Military Polico. Q And was tho quostioning conductod at the Jai Alai building: conducted by that ofticcrj A He did not quostion me, but another officer questioned me. He was, I understand, with the Intelli gence Service. Q Was that officer a member ot tho Military Police?
A I could not tell you that.
Q Whan you wer~ stationed at Villamor Hall, were you in a cell or in a room?
A We were in e room, 12 or 14 people togethar. Thero we.s e.lso a woman with us, a Epnnish woman.
Q Who were; your r.oomma:tes at Villamar Hall?
A There was an ~orican, l!r. Bttnnett, end Englishman, Ur. Dick, there were four or five Spaniards, end all the others, Free French. Q All the Committee of tho Free French?
A V' e were five together. In the next room there wer0 the staff of the Chinese Consulate. Dr. Young is the head.
390 Q Had you had dealings previous to the war with Dr. Young? A Oh, yes, he was my colleague and in that respect I want to render tribute to those gentlemen who were killed so dastardly by the Japanese.
CAPTAIN WALSH: The Defense wishes to obje~t to the voluntary statement of the witness. Furthermore, I would like to strike all the testimony of this witness as to being immaterial to an~ specifications in this case. COLONEL SUPPLE: The Commission will caution the Defense to make one motion at a time. Reference to the execution of the Chinese Consul as made by the witness will be omitted from the record. The motion to strike out all the testimony of the witness as moved by the Defense is denied. Q (Lieutenant Gill) How long did you remaia 1n
Villamor Hall, Mr. Willoquet~ A We remained until the 27th of March.
Q At that time where did you go? A We were taken in a truck with the Chinese staff
a.~d my other colleagues to Fort Santiago. q Whp was in this truck with you that went from Villamor Hall to Fort Santiago? A There were the members of the Free French Com-
~1 ttee, another Frenchman, Mr. Ohl, later released from Fort Santiago because he was very sick, one British, Mr. Dick, one American, Mr. Bennett, two Spaniards, Campos and Pabon, and the eight members cf the Chinese Censulate including Dr. Kuang son Young.
390-a . I I
Q Where were you placed in Fort Santiago? A We were placed in sort or a cage made out or wood, No. l?, and the Chinese were in the next cell or , the cage, No. 14. ••
Q You spoke of being placed in wooden cells or cages, will you describe those cages. A Well, they were cages or about three meters wide, nothing in the cell of course, two holes in the floor. In one hole there was a faucet for water, and in the other, another hole was the teilet or what we called in Japanese the "benjo." or course, our situation was very bad. We had to satisfy our natural needs in front or one another. We had just a place to lie down. The rood was uneatable, rice and I don't understand why the Japanese took a pleasure to deprive us from salt. You do not realize what it is to be deprived of salt, it is terrible. After l? days you felt the lack or salt. They enjoyed it I suppose. For three weeks we were not
allowed to go out. ~e had to live in semi-darkness. After three weeks a doctor came and it was so filthy and the smell was so terrific that he asked the Military Police to allow us to go out and take a shower from the fire hose, which we did, and then I met Dr. Young, I mean the staff of Chinese Consuls because they took a shower with us. According to him, he was very down-hearted. Q Why was he very down-hearted? A He was always afraid of harsh treatment and even death. He did not explain why he was so anxious, so depressed.
391 Q Did he say why he feared he might die?
A ~~es, I told him "You should not be so depr~ssed because af-cer all t hey cannot kill you, they cannot kill a man like that." He said, "You don't know the Japanese as well as I do . " He was right in that. Q Go back for a moment to the condition of the cell, Mr. Willoquet. Di d you have a bed of any kind, cots to sleep on? A We had only sand sacks, empty of course. Q Sand sacks? A Sand bags that had been left by the American Army. We were allowed to have one to lie down on. Q How many men were in your cell?
A It depends. At the beginning we were nine, but afterwards they put with us counterf Jiter Arsino De Leon. He was shot as a counterfeiter, but I spoke to him very long and I am sure he was as he said with the guerrillas. Of course he had money because of the guerrillas he had. When he went out of the cell he did not know he was going to go to the executi on.
CAPTAIN WALSH ~ The Defense would like to object to the testimony about the alleged counterfeiter as the case i s not covered by the specificati ons . LIEUTE NANT GILL: May it please the Commission, the sp€cifications drawn up include torture, mistreatment, beating, and execution of certain civilian nationals known and divers other nationals unknown, and thi! man definitely would fit into that category.
392 COLONEL SUPPLE: The objection is not sustained.
A (Witness) There was also another man whom I appreciate very much, Dr. Santos.
Q (Lieutenant Gill) Dr. who? A Santos.
Q Do you know his first name?
A I could not tell you because -- all I know he was Dr. Santos of Tondo, because he had published leaflets t ~ lling ~he Japanese soldiers to go home and be happy. He was with us two weeks. We were at the time thirteen in the cell. He was beaten and I heard afterwards that he had been executed. I will add that the Filipinos should be proud of that man. He was a very gallant man, very brave. Q You spoke of nine to thirteen men being in your cell. In that size quarters how did you sleep? A When we were thirteen it was rather difficult to sleep. In fact, we could never sleep because the Jap anese were making such tertitic noise with their music and shouting and we couldn't sleep. It was really not treatment for civilized people. They were patrolling in the night by the officers coming with lights. We were
awake. You spoke of these as being temporary cells, now Q how many cells in all were there?
A Altogether sixteen. They were constructed after they entered Manila? Q
A Yes, after.
Q Did they have any nickname? We called t hose cages between us "Colonel Ohta' s A cages." 393 l Q Why did you call them that?
A ~ecause we knew Colonel Ohta was Chief of Police and had the control of those cages and supposedly he had them built.
Q During the time that you were there in Fort San- tiago, we re you ever able to converse with Dr. Young more than the one time you have just mentioned? A I was able to send them on the other side of the wu.11 f ot:.:::- or five times pieces of paper asking them for news, b~t I could speak with Dr. Kuangson Young when we were taking showers together and afterwards when he went out1hrough the bars, but the man with whom I could talk more freely was Mok, who was of course a good friend of mine before the war. When he left for what he thought was Muntin Lupa, he told me he had -- we conversed in a very low voice. Q You say he spoke of going to Muntin Lupa, when was that?
A In the beginning of April, Mok sent me word that t hey were le avi ~g f or Muntin Lupa and one day -- I do not remember the day -- Mrs. Mok and Mrs. Young came to the cells. The door was open and they could talk with their husbands. We began to find that very suspicious. Then \ Mok told me between the bars he jus t was told by the Mili tary Police that they would leave. The day of the execu tion on t he 17th of April at around 1:00 o 'clock we heard the door open. They were all eight men taken out and Mok came under the guise to put his shoes on. He leaned against our cell and he told me "We are leaving now for
394
\ Muntin Lupa. If my wife should come here 'and you could see her --•: I don't lmow how I could have seen her but there are miracles -- "tell her we are in Muntin Lupa because I suspect the Consulate will be there." He asked me "Do you think the war will be over soon," and I said, "I think we will win the war next year." I told him, "Good luck." That is all I saw of the great man. Before they left I could see the MP's bring a rope. They had tu~en a1l their valuables, rings, fountain pens, and put them in an envelope. I could see that and they were tied with a rope by the hands and away they went. We did not understand at the time that they were to be executed. The Japan~se are very secret people. The MP's made them beliave they were going to a better place. There was some irony in that, and we thought, we discussed the point between us, "Do you think they would take their valuables, that they should take them on a rope. Those people are Consul members and should have international immunity." The fact that the Japanese could disregard that which has been recognized as long as humanity existed has been wit nessed that day. International immunity is something which has been recognized by all men in all times, and here they were tied on a rope, these Consular officers. Q You spoke of Consular immunity. Were you ac-
corded that type of immunity? A Not at all. The first time I was arrestetl I said, "You ha\"e no right to arrest me, you only have the right to take me into custody, or hold me in my house
or in Santo Tomas ."
395 Q As a matter of fact, as a representative of the DeGaulle G0vernment, were you not due the respect and accord of a regular Consul? A Yes, we were representing a belligerent group, and accord!ng to international law we should have been accorded i mmunity, and I always thought we would be. He said, "You have no rights, only the Vichy Gover~ent is recognized." I said, "We are recognized by Great Britain a ;i::~ we ceclared war against the Japanese. We are a fighting government, a belligerant, so we must be given immunity." They refUsed. That officer was rather ignorant because he did not know where was New Caledonia. They were plan ning to conquer New Caledonia and Australia, but they didn ' t know where it was. I had to get a map and show him where it was.
396
.\ Q Mr. Willoquet, during your internment at Fort Se.ntiago 6id you observe the torture and mistreatment of oth~ r ru~mb e rs of your cell mates other than Dr. 8antos? A There was with us a Frenchman of 66 years old, f ormer Administrator of Colonies, a man who had written a very favor able book about Japan. He had lived seven years in Japan. He had a broken leg, and he absolutely had to have a cane. They did not allow him to t ake his c;;ne and pushed him into the cell -- 1n the room. He was hurt by them. Now I saw Filipinos beaten by the Military Police under the showers with a big wooden cut piece •- with a big wood piece. I remember a poor Chinese amah who was put in cell 16. She was beat en, you have no idea, you heard her head strike against the wall and she spent the time singing songs. She was a protestent, I suppose, be cause she was singing in a very low voice "Nearer to Thee
My Lord." We had to tell her "Shut up, y9u give us the ca f crd -." That is a French word meaning disconsolate. We could not stRnd it. She was beat en plenty.
Q What is a Chinese amah?
A A Chinese amah is a s e rv2 nt~
Q A woman servant?
A Yes. I r emember an American young man of 23 year s vms brought from Bataan. He vm s not a soldier, he was a civilian en gineer~ He had been sent to the Philip pines by his firm. His name \7as Robert Abbott. He got mal aria ! dysenter;, and he \7as crying e.11 the day, "Give me quinine." I say "all the day" b e c a~1se you don't lmow eYactly -- no . that is not right, b c c au ~ ~ most of the time
397 he could not talk, he was unconscious, and he was telling -them "I arn dy:tng" at the time. I remember an K.D. coming to him anci r Gfusing to treat him, saying, - with the few words of English he lmew - "I want you to die." Better for him we had a goo April. I ·.vas, myself -- LIBTJTENANT GILL: To when'? A 10th of April June . Q 1942? 1942. A I got sick myself with that disease. I don't know what it was, a sort of dysentery. They sent Dr. Kane ~1d he had to confer with the Military Police , v.nd I wa~ tr ~.nsf c rre d to the doctor's hospital. I had sone: sulfa drugs. I w2s able to get out e.nd on the 17th of June I could st ~nd on my f eet and I boarded a cargo boat f or C~inn; because at l ast they had r ecognized that I cuuld Le exct.anged for two Japanese Consuls we had in our haDds. I th.i.nk it i s a circumstance tha t saved my life and my f nreily's life. q Mr· ~ v;il:ioquet, was the condit i on that you wer e in a t the~ time you we:rit into t he hospj t:.al tho r esult of the treat ment yo~ r Gce tved at Fort Sant i a~o? 398 I A Oh, yes. Q D1d your other cell mates receive the same treatment? All people? A All people , you mean all people 1n all cell blocks? In the same blocks, yes. LIEUTENANT GILL: I have no turther questions. A COLONEL SUPPLE: Are ther e any questions by t he Def ense? CAPTAIN WALSH: Yes, sir. CROSS-EXAMINATION Q (By Captain Walsh) To which organization did this doctor who treated you belong? A What was the question? Q Wl-.ich org?.nization in the Japanese Army did this doctor who treat ed you belong to? A He belonged to the Military Police. Q He was a member of the staff at Fort Santiago? A Surely. Q Have you ever he?rd of Premier Konoye of Japan? A Yes. Q Do you r ecall he made the announcement t hat t he Jepe.nese Government would no longer ~ e co gniz e the government of Chiang Kai-shek? A Yes, he did. After he made such announcement then t he Chinese Consulat e in M211il ~ , Dr. Young, uould not be r ecognized, i s t het c o r~ ec t ? A Not et c.11. I t is not c consequence. :~ t he r el ntion b e t~een two gover nments and 399 interna tional l aw there is a big difference. You c~r.. 1ot i;i:r'er that bece.use Mr. Konoye did not recognize the Chiar,g Kai-shek government he should abstain to oppose the international l aw. He is ebove all govern ment rul e~ or decisions. Q You admit that the Japanese did not recognize the government of Gener al Chiang Kei-shek? A Of course. Q As a direct result of that, they did not r ecog- niz ~ ~~Y r.onsul? A They recognized the Consul's right to immuni- ties accor·ding to int€rnatione.l l aw. Recognition of governments is a different thing. ,.., Did t he Jppe.nes e r ecognize the government of Qe.neral DeGeullc? A No, eY-actly the same thing. Q Did they recognize the Vichy Government? A Oh, they did, of course. Q Did the Vichy Government have a Consul in Menile.? A They had one. 0 ''fer e tr..ey treat ed as Consul? A Oh, yes, as Consul, by the Japanese. 1 C.AF'.l'AIN t' ALSH: I have no more quest ions. LIEUTENANT GILL : The Prosecution has another question. REDIR3CT EXAMINhTION q (Ey Li e~tenaLt Gill) At the same time that the Vich:r Govcr nn1ant had a Consula:- staff i'tl thc .. Philippi ncs prior to inves:!.on by the Jepan ese, did ·c!'le DeGe.ull 400 Government also have a Consular staff 'in Manila ? A :;: wa ;;; that men. 0 In other words, both governments had r ecognized the Consular stetf in the Philippines at the same time? A I t was not r ecognized by the Amarican Government but 1 had r el ation with the American authority in Mani l a , but I r epeat, according to internetional l aw , I wes the r epr.a sentative -- I wa s r epr esenting a beliger e.nt p ~rty ~ r.d it wa s enough not to be recognized cffici ally. Q In other words, although not offici ally recog- nized, you wer e accorded rights under int e rn~ tional l aw wi tn the ·vic:hy Government? A Exactly. L IEUTEN~fT GILL: No fu ~t her queat ions. CP.PTAI N r'ALS~ : T~e r e i.r a no f urther que: stions by the Def ense . COLONEL SUPPLE: The wi tnes s may be excused. (Witness excused) :t,IEUTENANT GILL: Mey it pl€nse the Commission, at this t ifil ~ che Prosecution has no furthor evidence t o pl'esent t o t he Cot'. r~ and r ests its c::tso. COLONEL SUP?LE : The Commi ssi on w!l.L r ecess !'or five mi nutes. (ShoT" t r c c e s ~) 40l THE COMMISSION: Is there any further business to be brou3ht before the Commission? CAPTAIN V/ALSH: The Defense at this time requests additional time to prepare Defense matters and would like to have permission of the Commission to adjourn until 10:00 o'clock Wednesday morning. COLONEL SUPPLE: Is that agreeable to the Prosecution? LIEUTENANT GILL: Yes, sir. COLONEL SUPPLE : The Ccmmission will adjourn until 10:00 o'clock Wednesday morning, the 2nd of January, 1946. (Vlh~reupon at 0950 hours, 31 December 1945, the trial was adjourned until 1000 hours, 2 January 1946.) 402