§ 64. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many Japanese war criminals are held by this country; what are their terms of imprisonment; and where they are imprisoned.
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerThere are two categories of Japanese war criminals: major criminals, Class "A", who were tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, and minor criminals, Classes "B" and "C", who were tried by the military tribunals of the individual allied Powers.
Twenty-five Class "A" war criminals were convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Seven were hanged, 5 have died and I has been released on the expiry of his sentence. The remaining 12 are at present serving sentences of life imprisonment in Sugamo prison in Tokyo, except for one, Minami, who has been released on special medical parole for the period of a serious illness. The decision to grant him special medical parole was taken by the Governments of the eight allied Powers (namely, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands New Zealand, Pakistan and U.S.A.) which, by the terms of Article 11 of the Treaty of Peace with Japan, have the responsibility for granting clemency or parole to Class "A" war criminals.
Seven hundred and fifty-six Class "B" and "C" war criminals were convicted by United Kingdom military courts; 220 were executed, 2 have died, 423 have completed their sentences, 14 37W were paroled by the Supreme Commander of the allied Powers and 97 remain in prison. The sentences of the remaining 97 are as follow:
50 are serving 21 years.
14 are serving 20 years.
32 are serving 15 years.
1 is serving 14 years.
They were sent back to Japan from prisons in the British Colonies and Burma in 1951. Since then they have been confined in the Sugamo Prison, in Tokyo.