Evening star., 1943-04-23
Bv MAX HILL.
ASSOCIATED Press Stan Correspondent.

ASSOCIATED Press STAFF Correspondent
NEW YORK, April 23.-Justice as
we know it doesn't exist in Japan
man is guilty because of the con-
fession forced from him before he
ever sets foot in the courtroom.
My own experiences in Sugamo
Prison and in the civil court were
narrowing enough, but man in the
diabolical hands of the military
police would merely shrug and laugh
at such minor inconvenience.
The Doolittle aviators who were
executed after what the Japanese
had the, efrontezys to call a trial
undoubtedN dN were turned over to the
gendarnies, and those still alive are
prisoners in damp, vermin- ridden
dungeons.
Worse Than Gestapo.
The. Japanese gendarmes could
teach Islsr Ses3apo new tricks in
torture. Both mental and physical.
And their boss is Premier TOTO in
his capacity as war minister.
Trial of the captured aviators,
reported to be at least eight in
number, couldn't have been any
thing but a farce. Yet, in their
perverted way of thinking, the Jap
anese probably are boasting among
themselves of the flair" treatment
meted out to helpless prisoners.
Japan signed the Geneva con-
vention, which set up certain rules
of warfare to which all contracting
nations agreed. The captured Amer
ican flyers were prisoners of war,
plain and simple. They were not
spies.
Japan had agreed, in signing the
Geneva convention, to treat them
as such. With typical evasion she
broke her word and has tried to
cloak the murders with legal
sanctity.
Seven American newspapermen
in Toxic received a bitter dose of
the same treatment, as did numer-
Gus businessmen and missionaries,
one of whom was beaten, kicked
and given the water cure merely
because he had in his possession a
pamphlet which said Lord of Lords,
King of Kings" This tribute to
Jesus, the gendarmes growled, was
slander and part of plot against
Emperor Hirohito.
Recites Own Experiences.
Let me tell you, briefly, my own
experiences with Japanese justice,
and remember that I am speaking
OF civil authorities and not the even
more brutal gendarmes.
was showed into a 51z by -9-foot
cell in Sugamo Prison the day of
Pearl Harbor. 1t was bare and un-
heated and through the winter
water frequently froze in the bowl.
There I remained until June 2.
when by virtue of the diplomatic
exchange arranged between the
United States and Japan I was
taken to an internment camp. The
only reason the japanese ever con-
sented to any civilian other than
the diplomatic personnel leaving
Japan was that she had some 200
army and navy officers in the
United States as spies in civilian
clothes and she wanted them back
badly.
was questioned, hour after hour,
by crew of three officers, the
leader of whom was Inspector Take
hara, a squat, pudgy little man with
a brilliant mind. He soon became
my personal conception of the devil
and always will be.
once asked him whether he ever
stopped thinking about my case.
NO" he said, seriously, speaking
through the interpreter, never. Not
even when go to bed"
All Newspapermen Accused.
All the newspapermen in the
prison were accused of sending
stories detrimental to japanese
diplomacy" As the law was word
ed, couldn't have sent q message
to the Associated Press saying the
sun was shining in Toxic without q
direct violation.