U. S. Department of Justice FAX SENT Criminal Division Washington, D.C. 20530 Via Telefax NOV - 3 1998 R a b b i Abraham Cooper A s s o c i a t e Dean Simon W i e s e n t h a l C e n t e r 9760 West P i c o B o u l e v a r d L o s A n g e l e s , CA 90035-4792 Dear Abe: Thank you f o r y o u r l e t t e r of September 8, 1998, and c o n g r a t u l a t i o n s once a g a i n on t h e C e n t e r ' s s u c c e s s f u l and h i s t o r i c August 16 i n t e r n a t i o n a l v i d e o c o n f e r e n c e on World War I I e r a Japanese a t r o c i t i e s . By h o l d i n g t h i s c o n f e r e n c e and by p r e s e r v i n g i t on the I n t e r n e t , t h e C e n t e r h a s made a s i g n i f i c a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the h i s t o r i c a l r e c o r d r e g a r d i n g an i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t o f World War I I t h a t i s s t i l l too l i t t l e known. I n r e s p o n s e t o y o u r s p e c i f i c q u e s t i o n s about U n i t 731, I c a n c o n f i r m t h a t a l l former members of U n i t 731 of t h e J a p a n e s e I m p e r i a l Army, a s w e l l a s a l l Japanese m i l i t a r y and c i v i l i a n p e r s o n n e l who were i n v o l v e d i n A x i s - s p o n s o r e d a c t s of p e r s e c u t i o n on t h e b a s i s of r a c e , r e l i g i o n , n a t i o n a l o r i g i n o r p o l i t i c a l o p i n i o n d u r i n g the p e r i o d of J a p a n ' s a l l i a n c e w i t h N a z i Germany, a r e i n e l i g i b l e to e n t e r the United S t a t e s under the p r o v i s i o n s of t h e Holtzman Amendment, 8 U.S.C. 1 1 8 2 ( a ) ( 3 ) ( E ) . These p r o v i s i o n s a l s o a p p l y t o i n d i v i d u a l s who p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the a t r o c i t i e s a t N a n j i n g (which o c c u r r e d a f t e r Japan s i g n e d t h e A n t i - C o m i n t e r n P a c t w i t h Germany) and i n t h e o p e r a t i o n o r u t i l i z a t i o n o f soc a l l e d "comfort s t a t i o n s " where women and g i r l s were r o u t i n e l y raped, b r u t a l i z e d , and sometimes murdered by J a p a n e s e m i l i t a r y personnel. As you know, i n a d d i t i o n t o i n v e s t i g a t i n g s u s p e c t e d A x i s p e r s e c u t o r s who have o b t a i n e d U.S. c i t i z e n s h i p o r a r e r e s i d i n g i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , OSI i s c h a r g e d w i t h r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r p r e v e n t i n g the e n t r y of s u c h p e r s o n s i n t o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . OSI's i n t e n s i v e e f f o r t s to i d e n t i f y suspected Axis p e r s e c u t o r s and have t h e i r names added t o the U.S. Government's s o - c a l l e d " w a t c h l i s t " of e x c l u d a b l e a l i e n s have r e s u l t e d i n t h e e x c l u s i o n o f n e a r l y 150 s u c h i n d i v i d u a l s a t a i r p o r t s and o t h e r U.S. p o r t s of e n t r y s i n c e 1989 (when we began c o m p i l i n g s t a t i s t i c s on t h i s - 2 a s p e c t of o u r w o r k ) . L a s t y e a r a l o n e , 23 s u s p e c t e d A x i s p e r s e c u t o r s ( a l l o f them European s u s p e c t s ) were b l o c k e d from entering. T h i s y e a r , a s you w i l l r e c a l l , we succeeded f o r t h e f i r s t time i n s t o p p i n g a J a p a n e s e p e r p e t r a t o r and p r e v e n t i n g h i s e n t r y i n t o the U n i t e d S t a t e s . O S I ' s a d d i t i o n o f t e n s o f t h o u s a n d s o f names t o t h e i n t e r a g e n c y b o r d e r c o n t r o l w a t c h l i s t i s an outgrowth o f t h i s O f f i c e ' s u n p r e c e d e n t e d i n v e s t i g a t i v e e f f o r t , spanning n e a r l y two decades, t o i d e n t i f y and o b t a i n b i r t h d a t e i n f o r m a t i o n on s u s p e c t e d A x i s p e r s e c u t o r s . We have s y s t e m a t i c a l l y c h e c k e d t h e names o f s u c h i n d i v i d u a l s a g a i n s t U.S. i m m i g r a t i o n r e c o r d s . The names o f t h o s e s u s p e c t s who were n o t found t o have i m m i g r a t e d t o the U n i t e d S t a t e s ( i . e . , t h e overwhelming m a j o r i t y o f t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s ) and who might s t i l l be a l i v e have been added t o t h e w a t c h l i s t f o r e x c l u s i o n from t h i s c o u n t r y . I n a l l , t h e names o f more t h a n 60,000 s u s p e c t s have been added t o the w a t c h l i s t a t OSI's b e h e s t . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , d e s p i t e y e a r s o f work b y t h i s O f f i c e , we have been a b l e t o i d e n t i f y fewer t h a n a hundred s u s p e c t e d J a p a n e s e p a r t i c i p a n t s i n World War I I - e r a c r i m e s a g a i n s t humanity ( p r i m a r i l y i n d i v i d u a l s i m p l i c a t e d i n t h e " U n i t 731" m e d i c a l a t r o c i t i e s and i n t h e s o - c a l l e d "Comfort Women" mass r a p e s ) . There a r e two r e a s o n s f o r t h i s u n f o r t u n a t e s i t u a t i o n . First, whereas most documents c a p t u r e d b y A m e r i c a n f o r c e s i n E u r o p e d u r i n g and a f t e r t h e war were m i c r o f i l m e d p r i o r t o b e i n g r e t u r n e d t o Germany and o t h e r c o u n t r i e s i n Europe, t h e Department o f D e f e n s e d e c i d e d i n t h e 1960's t o r e t u r n t o Japan, without m i c r o f i l m i n g , n e a r l y a l l o f t h e v a s t documentation c a p t u r e d from I m p e r i a l J a p a n . Second, d e s p i t e U.S. Government e n t r e a t i e s o v e r t h e y e a r s , t h e Government o f J a p a n h a s f a i l e d , t o d a t e , t o g r a n t OSI m e a n i n g f u l a c c e s s t o t h e s e a n d r e l a t e d r e c o r d s . A c c e s s t o E u r o p e a n a r c h i v e s h a s been c r u c i a l t o t h i s o f f i c e ' s s u c c e s s i n i d e n t i f y i n g s u s p e c t e d N a z i p e r s e c u t o r s who s h o u l d be b a r r e d from t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e J a p a n e s e Government h a s n o t responded t o t h i s O f f i c e ' s longstanding r e q u e s t f o r b i r t h d a t e i n f o r m a t i o n on i n d i v i d u a l J a p a n e s e s u s p e c t s whom OSI h a s i d e n t i f i e d w i t h o u t a s s i s t a n c e from Tokyo; t h e f i r s t s u c h r e q u e s t was made i n December 1996. L a c k i n g t h i s d a t a , we r e m a i n u n a b l e t o add t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s ' names t o t h e w a t c h l i s t and t h u s c a n n o t prevent t h e i r entry into t h i s country. Members o f my s t a f f a r e c u r r e n t l y p r e p a r i n g a d e t a i l e d r e s p o n s e t o t h e h i s t o r i c a l q u e s t i o n s posed i n y o u r l e t t e r o f September 8. That r e s p o n s e w i l l be s e n t t o you s h o r t l y u n d e r separate cover. P l e a s e do n o t h e s i t a t e t o c o n t a c t me s h o u l d y o u have a d d i t i o n a l q u e s t i o n s about t h i s o r a n y o t h e r a s p e c t o f t h e - 3 J u s t i c e Department's e f f o r t s t o i d e n t i f y p e r s o n s i m p l i c a t e d i n the p e r p e t r a t i o n of A x i s c r i m e s and t o remove and/or b a r them from t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . urs, E l i M. Ro\ Director O f f i c e of S p e c i a l I n v e s t i g a t i o n s 1001 G. S t r e e t , N.W., S u i t e 1000 Washington, D.C. 20530 Telephone: (202) 616-2492 Fax: (202) 616-2491 U.S. Department of Justice FAX SENT Criminal Division Washington, D.C DEC 20530-0001 T 1998 V I A TELEFAX: 310/553-8007 R a b b i Abraham Cooper A s s o c i a t e Dean Simon W i e s e n t h a l C e n t e r 9760 West P i c o B o u l e v a r d L o s A n g e l e s , CA 90035-4792 Re: U.S. N o n - P r o s e c u t i o n of Japanese War Criminals Dear Abe: I n my l e t t e r of November 3, 1998, I w r o t e t h a t my s t a f f was p r e p a r i n g a d e t a i l e d r e s p o n s e t o the h i s t o r i c a l q u e s t i o n posed i : y o u r l e t t e r of September 8, i . e . , d i d the U n i t e d S t a t e s g i v e b l a n k e t immunity t o C l a s s A J a p a n e s e war c r i m i n a l s i n r e t u r n f o r t h e r e s u l t s of t h e i r r e s e a r c h and e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n ? Set f o r t h below i s t h e a n a l y s i s t h a t I p r o m i s e d i n t h a t l e t t e r . As we have d i s c u s s e d , t h i s i s s u e was r a i s e d a t t h e v i d e o c o n f e r e n c e a r r a n g e d by the W i e s e n t h a l C e n t e r and b r o a d c a s t v i a s a t e l l i t e and the I n t e r n e t on August 16, 1998. A participant in t h a t c o n f e r e n c e r e p o r t e d l y s t a t e d t h a t p e r s o n n e l of U n i t 731 of t h e J a p a n e s e I m p e r i a l Army who, "under any d e f i n i t i o n , " were " C l a s s A" war c r i m i n a l s , were n e v e r t r i e d by the I n t e r n a t i o n a l M i l i t a r y T r i b u n a l - F a r E a s t [IMTFE] b e c a u s e the U n i t e d S t a t e s Government g r a n t e d them immunity i n r e t u r n f o r t h e i r human experimentation r e s e a r c h data. - This p a r t i c i p a n t f u r t h e r charged t h a t the U n i t e d S t a t e s , by f a i l i n g to p r o s e c u t e U n i t 7 3 1 ' s members and by c l a s s i f y i n g r e c o r d s p e r t a i n i n g to i t , had e s s e n t i a l l y a s s i s t e d Japan i n c o v e r i n g up t h e a t r o c i t i e s p e r p e t r a t e d by the u n i t . T h i s o f f i c e has c o n f i r m e d t h a t the a l l e g a t i o n r e g a r d i n g the -2U n i t e d S t a t e s ' t r e a t m e n t of U n i t 731 p e r s o n n e l i s a c c u r a t e , w i t h one e x c e p t i o n : t h e term " C l a s s A" war c r i m i n a l was a c t u a l l y a p p l i e d o n l y to t w e n t y - e i g h t key l e a d e r s and p o l i c y m a k e r s who p l a n n e d and e x e c u t e d Japan's war of a g g r e s s i o n . These i n d i v i d u a l s were p r o s e c u t e d b e f o r e t h e IMTFE, n e a r l y a l l were c o n v i c t e d , and s e v e r a l were e x e c u t e d . The members of U n i t 731 d i d n o t q u a l i f y a s C l a s s A war c r i m i n a l s , and t h i s o f f i c e i s unaware of any e v i d e n c e t h a t immunity was e v e r c o n f e r r e d on i n d i v i d u a l s who were g i v e n t h a t d e s i g n a t i o n . I n a d d i t i o n t o C l a s s A war c r i m i n a l s , however, the U n i t e d S t a t e s , A u s t r a l i a , China, F r a n c e , the U n i t e d Kingdom, t h e N e t h e r l a n d s and the P h i l i p p i n e s t r i e d 5,416 J a p a n e s e m i l i t a r y and government p e r s o n n e l f o r war c r i m e s and c r i m e s a g a i n s t humanity, but no member of U n i t 731 was e v e r i n c l u d e d i n s u c h p r o s e c u t i o n s , t o our knowledge. Although a l l e g a t i o n s a r o s e soon a f t e r t h e war t h a t U.S. o c c u p a t i o n a u t h o r i t i e s under G e n e r a l Douglas MacArthur had g r a n t e d U n i t 731 p e r s o n n e l immunity from p r o s e c u t i o n i n r e t u r n f o r a c c e s s t o the r e s u l t s of t h e i r c r i m i n a l b i o l o g i c a l and c h e m i c a l w a r f a r e experiments, i t was f o r many y e a r s i m p o s s i b l e t o a s c e r t a i n t h e t r u t h about t h o s e a l l e g a t i o n s b e c a u s e t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s c l a s s i f i e d i t s records p e r t a i n i n g to the u n i t . I n 1981, a f t e r most of t h o s e r e c o r d s had been d e c l a s s i f i e d , t h e Department of t h e Army i n i t i a t e d a r e c o r d s r e v i e w t o d e t e r m i n e whether t h e a l l e g a t i o n s were t r u e . Norman M. C o v e r t , t h e former C h i e f of P u b l i c A f f a i r s and c u r r e n t Command H i s t o r i a n f o r the M e d i c a l R e s e a r c h and M a t e r i e l Command a t F o r t D e t r i c k , M a r y l a n d ( t h e former s i t e of t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ' e a r l y b i o l o g i c a l w a r f a r e r e s e a r c h programs), r e v i e w e d t h e voluminous r e c o r d s a t F o r t D e t r i c k a s w e l l a s r e l a t e d Supreme Commander A l l i e d Powers [SCAP] r e c o r d s a t t h e N a t i o n a l Records C e n t e r a t S u i t l a n d , M a r y l a n d . He u n c o v e r e d s e v e r a l documents, a l l now d e c l a s s i f i e d and i n t h e p u b l i c domain, which d e s c r i b e i n some d e t a i l t h e b i o l o g i c a l w a r f a r e d a t a c o l l e c t e d by the J a p a n e s e and t h e arrangement made between the U n i t e d S t a t e s and L i e u t e n a n t G e n e r a l S h i r o I s h i i , t h e commander of U n i t 731. Covert's f i n d i n g s are o u t l i n e d i n s e v e r a l Army r e p o r t s and i n f o r m a t i o n p a p e r s which, a l o n g w i t h t h e u n d e r l y i n g documentation, have been r e v i e w e d by t h i s o f f i c e . Two of t h e s e r e p o r t s , d a t e d November 17, 1981 and May 5, 1982, c o n f i r m t h a t I s h i i and h i s c o l l e a g u e s r e c e i v e d immunity from p r o s e c u t i o n and t h a t , i n exchange, t h e y p r o v i d e d a g r e a t d e a l of i n f o r m a t i o n t o U.S. a u t h o r i t i e s . The s e c t i o n of t h e May 5, 1982 r e p o r t p e r t a i n i n g t o t h e g r a n t o f immunity from p r o s e c u t i o n (which i s quoted h e r e w i t h t h e p e r m i s s i o n of the Department of t h e Army) s t a t e s a s f o l l o w s : 7. The Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to keep Top Secret any information about the Japanese Biological Warfare Prog-ram. The Joint State, War, Navy Coordinating Committee expressed its desire that the information be retained in US hands exclusively and certainly it -3 should be kept from the Soviet Union. The second driving force in the protection of LTG [Lieutenant General] Ishii and his associates was the precondition established by the War Crimes Tribunal in Japan that no prosecutions would be pursued unless a specific incident could be identified and a single person established as the responsible party. This could not be done in LTG Ishii's case. It could not be said that LTG Ishii personally ordered the death of prisoners through experimentation on a particular date using particular agents. This was the result of the US withdrawal from Manchuria and the lack of incriminating evidence from the wealth of material supplied on testing at the Unit. Immunity from prosecution was therefore granted to LTG Ishii and his associates and they in turn provided much information. 8. In the memorandum written by Dr. Edward Wetter and Mr. H.I. Stubblefield for the State, War, Navy Coordinating Committee for the Far East, the decision not to prosecute LTG Ishii was discussed. "An agreement with Ishii and his associates that information given by them on the Japanese BW program will be retained in intelligence channels is equivalent to an agreement that this government will not prosecute any of those involved in BW activities in which war crimes were committed. " 9. Scientists in the US program said the information was not of significant value, but it was the first data in which human subjects were described. It indicated the Japanese program reached a level of expertise in 1939 that was never advanced because of lack of resources. Any prosecution of LTG Ishii and his associates would have exposed the Japanese capability in addition to US expertise. It would have been difficult to retain such information in US-only hands in such a case. LTG Ishii was thus able to escape prosecution. The Joint Chiefs of Staff and SCAP agreed there would be little gained by such prosecution and deferred, offering LTG Ishii immunity in exchange for detailed information. I n a f i l e , memorandum d a t e d June 27, 1995, Mr. C o v e r t s t a t e s t h a t s i n c e 1982, " t h e Army and DoD [Department o f D e f e n s e ] , -4p r i m a r i l y t h r o u g h t h i s o f f i c e , have r e l e a s e d a l l i n f o r m a t i o n known i n [ t h e i r ] p o s s e s s i o n on the s u b j e c t . . . . A l l of t h e m a t e r i a l has p r e v i o u s l y been r e l e a s e d t o p r i v a t e c i t i z e n s , news media r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s (U.S., Japanese, B r i t i s h and C a n a d i a n ) , a u t h o r s , [and] o t h e r i n t e r e s t e d p e r s o n s . " Mr. C o v e r t ' s r e s e a r c h and t h e documentation he u n c o v e r e d a t b o t h F o r t D e t r i c k and t h e N a t i o n a l Records Center at S u i t l a n d are c i t e d i n Sheldon H a r r i s ' 1994 book, F a c t o r i e s of Death: Japanese B i o l o g i c a l W a r f a r e 19321945 and t h e American Cover-Up. P r o f e s s o r H a r r i s v i s i t e d F o r t D e t r i c k w h i l e c o n d u c t i n g r e s e a r c h f o r h i s book. He a l s o c i t e s C o v e r t ' s May 5, 1982 r e p o r t s e v e r a l t i m e s and quotes, a t page 222, t h e f i r s t s e n t e n c e i n P a r a g r a p h #9 o f t h a t r e p o r t . I hope t h a t t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n s a t i s f a c t o r i l y r e s p o n d s t o y o u r question. P l e a s e do not h e s i t a t e to c o n t a c t me s h o u l d you have a d d i t i o n a l q u e s t i o n s or r e q u i r e f u r t h e r c l a r i f i c a t i o n . You may a l s o w i s h t o c o n t a c t Mr. C o v e r t d i r e c t l y , a s h i s o f f i c e has been d e s i g n a t e d by t h e Department o f the Army t o h a n d l e p u b l i c i n q u i r i e s c o n c e r n i n g U.S. knowledge of J a p a n e s e b i o l o g i c a l w a r f a r e programs, i n c l u d i n g q u e s t i o n s d e a l i n g w i t h t h e U.S. d e c i s i o n to decline prosecution. He can be r e a c h e d a t (301) 6193326 ( v o i c e ) o r by t e l e f a x a t (301) 619-3131. Sincerely yours E l i M. Rosenbaum Director O f f i c e of S p e c i a l I n v e s t i g a t i o n s U n i t e d S t a t e s Department o f J u s t i c e Criminal D i v i s i o n 1001 G S t r e e t , N.W., Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 2 053 0 (202) 616-2492; Fax (202) 616-2491