THE TOKYO TRIALS

 


Former Prime Minister of Japan General Hideki Tojo (spectacled and baldheaded at the center) being trialled in the Tokyo Trials. 

Tokyo Trials, International Military Tribunal for the Far East, were held from 3.5.1946 to 12.11.1948, to prosecute Japanese leaders for war crimes in World War II. The Tribunal was established by Allied powers, led by the US, to trial atrocities in the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, Pearl Harbor, and treatment of war prisoners. 28 high-ranked army officers and politicians, like ex-P.M. Hideki Tojo, were tried. Emperor Hirohito was not indicted. The accused faced war crimes against peace and humanity. 7, including Tojo, were executed on 23.12.1948. 16 received life. Critics and dissenting Indian judge Radhabinod Pal argued the trials were biased (victors ignored Allied war crimes), the Retroactive application of crimes against peace, and exemption of the Emperor. The trials fixed accountability for war crimes, set precedents for international law.

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