Mr. Frederick Elwyn Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Far Eastern Commission was consulted with regard to the decision to restore to Japanese public life on 20th June, 1951, the 69,000 persons previously excluded because of their responsibility for Japan's course of aggression abroad and totalitarianism at home.
§ Mr. Ernest DaviesNo. The so-called "purge" ordinances issued by the Japanese Government in response to Directives from the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan, apply to persons who, before the surrender, were active exponents of militarism and militant nationalism. Large numbers of those excluded from public life under these measures were barred by designation alone and not as a result of judicial or administrative inquiry. Inquiries were made only if a person already subject to the purge attempted to stand for elective public office. The release of a large number of Japanese hitherto subject to the purge is now contemplated. This release has the approval of the Supreme Commander in Tokyo and applies to persons who have been found, after inquiry, not 183W to have been active exponents of militarism and militant nationalism. This action is within the power of the S.C.A.P. under the terms of the Directives of the Far Eastern Commission.