HC Deb 11 February 1959 vol 599 cc1178-81
40 Mr. Brockway

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) whether the agreement with the Japanese Government signed in October, 1953, regarding criminal jurisdiction over British, Commonwealth and American forces in Japan has now been terminated;

(2) if he will make representations to the Japanese Government with the object of securing the cancellation of the certificates of parole imposed on British Service men as a condition of their release from Japanese prisons under the agreement of October, 1953;

(3) how many British Service men were sentenced to terms of imprisonment by Japanese courts under the agreement made in October, 1953; how many were sentenced to terms of two years or more; and how many are still subject to conditions of Japanese parole.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr. John Profumo)

As was explained by my noble Friend in another place on 3rd February, the Protocol of October, 1953, was superseded in 1954 by the Agreement regarding the Status of United Nations Forces in Japan, which incorporated the provisions of the Protocol. Six United Kingdom Service men were tried in Japanese courts in 1954, as a result of two cases of robbery with violence committed against Japanese citizens. Three of the men were tried in March, 1954, and sentenced to 3½, 4 and 5 years' penal servitude. The three others were tried in December, 1954, and each was sentenced to five years' penal servitude (reduced to four years on appeal). All were released on parole after serving a part of their sentences and were permitted to leave Japan. Only one of the men concerned remains on parole under Japanese law. The term of his sentence is due to end next month and it is not proposed to make any representations to the Japanese Government in this connection.

Mr. Brockway

Might I ask the hon. Gentleman two supplementary questions as he has answered three Questions together? First, is he aware that I hold in my hand a parole form of a British Service man in this country at this moment and that it is in operation until 8th March this year? Is the hon. Gentleman aware that under this form the Service man is not permitted to travel further than 200 kilometres from his house, that he is not allowed to be absent from his house for three days and that he must refrain from all drinking? As the parole form is issued not merely by the Japanese Government but by the Japanese Government in agreement with Her Majesty's Government will the hon. Gentleman clear up the matter of the validity of such forms?

I wish to put a supplementary question, Mr. Speaker, on my further Question. May I do it now, or shall I do it later?

Mr. Speaker

I think the hon. Member has put quite enough interrogation in his first supplementary question.

Mr. Brockway

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. My three Questions raise two distinct points. The first is the point about parole, about which I have put a supplementary question. The second point concerns the conditions of these Service men in Japanese prisons. Surely we are sufficiently concerned about our ex-Service men to be allowed to put a supplementary question on this subject.

Mr. Speaker

It is a large subject. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman might try to discuss it on the Adjournment. It seems too large a subject for Question Time. We had better hear what the Minister has to say about the hon. Gentleman's first supplementary question.

Mr. Profumo

I think I can put the hon. Gentleman's mind at ease on his first supplementary question, though I do not know what else he is going to ask. Japanese law does not apply in this country, and, therefore, these men are virtually free.

Mr. Brockway

May I now ask the hon. Gentleman a second supplementary question, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker

Let us now have the supplementary question to Question No. 49.

Mr. Brockway

Is it not a fact that most of the boys who were sentenced to three years' and five years' imprisonment in Japan were National Service men in their late 'teens and early twenties who had returned from the mud, blood and terror of the Korean war and because of violence on one night out were sentenced to those long periods? Is it not a fact that they were starved in prison and put in dungeons, and that the War Office showed attention to their situation only after they had mutinied? Ought not the War Office now to provide some compensation for men whom it neglected during those years?

Mr. Profumo

The hon. Gentleman has asked a lot of questions. I think the first answer to him is that we entered into an agreement with the Japanese Government. It was not just the United Kingdom which did this; it was an agreement on behalf of the United Nations forces.

Mr. Brockway

By General MacArthur?

Mr. Profumo

It was not General MacArthur. If the hon. Gentleman will look at my Answer he will see that the agreement was remade the other day. It behoves us as well as the other members of the United Nations honourably to uphold these agreements.

With regard to the treatment of these young men when in prison, I can only say that where complaints were received, our authorities went into them as well as they possibly could, and I have no reason to believe that the military authorities in this country are dissatisfied with the way in which the Treaty has been carried out.

Mr. Brockway

In view of the entirely unsatisfactory reply, I give notice that I will raise the matter on the Adjournment.