Lessons of Tokyo Trial brought into focus at UN

Eight decades after American prosecutor David Nelson Sutton traveled across China to gather evidence of Japanese wartime atrocities, his diaries and reports are helping shed light on the Tokyo Trial, whose 80th anniversary is being marked this week at the United Nations.

A photo exhibition, titled Justice and Peace for All Humanity, opened at UN headquarters in New York on Monday. Organized by China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, it brings together nearly 70 historical photographs, trial records and publications documenting how Japanese war crimes were investigated and prosecuted after World War II.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said the Tokyo Trial "cemented the postwar world order, upheld fairness and justice, and advanced the international rule of law. It was a landmark victory of peace over war, civilization over barbarism, and justice over evil, with far-reaching political and historical significance".

"The Tokyo Trial put Japanese militarism in the dock. It is essential for Japan to bear in mind what is at the core of the trial, make a clean break with militarism, and commit itself to peace once and for all," he said.

"We call on all parties to carry forward the spirit of the Tokyo Trial and keep in mind the opening words of the UN Charter: to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war," he said, adding that "we need to guard against rising new militarism and together uphold the postwar order and international peace and security".

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East began its proceedings in May 1946. Over the following two and a half years, judges from 11 countries examined thousands of pieces of evidence before delivering their judgment in November 1948.

Sutton, an American prosecutor involved in the Tokyo Trial, visited China in 1946 to collect testimony and documents on atrocities committed by Japanese forces, including the Nanjing Massacre.

His diaries and reports were recently acquired by the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, according to Zhou Feng, the museum's director.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition at UN headquarters on Monday, Zhou recalled a warning from Mei Ruao, the Chinese judge who served on the Tokyo tribunal.

"I am not a vengeance seeker. I have no intention of charging the Japanese people with the blood debt owed by Japanese militarism," Zhou quoted Mei as saying. "However, I believe that forgetting past suffering may lead to future disasters."

Maksim Musikhin, director of the legal department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said at the opening of the exhibition that the Tokyo Trial and the Nuremberg Tribunal helped establish the foundations of modern international justice.

"It is therefore crucial to constantly remind ourselves of these tragic events that led to the creation of this organization, and counter any attempts to rewrite history," Musikhin said.

Mun Jong Chol, deputy permanent representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations, said that "history can never be deleted, and acts of aggression and tragedies of war should never be repeated".

Gennady Kuzmin, ambassador-at-large at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized the importance of preserving the memory of World War II.

"We keep our own memory of the Second World War," he told China Daily, recalling how Russia, China and other countries fought "in order to ensure the peace and prosperity for all humankind".

"Everybody should remember," he said, adding that he was pleased to see China organize the "very important and very useful" exhibition.

Permanent representatives to the United Nations from Nicaragua, Lebanon, Spain and Gabon were among the diplomats who attended the opening ceremony and toured the exhibition.

The exhibition is being held during the UN's International Law Week and will remain open through Oct 30. It is scheduled to move to the Chinese Consulate General in New York in November.

shiguang@chinadailyusa.com