Court Opinion

ID: 9419736
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:51:20.370011+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:20.291403
License: Public Domain

Me. Chief Justice Stone
delivered the opinion of the Court.
No. 61 Miscellaneous is an application for leave to file a petition for writs of habeas corpus and prohibition in this Court. No. 672 is a petition for certiorari to review an order of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Philippines (28 U. S. C. § 349), denying petitioner’s application to that court for writs of habeas corpus and prohibition. As both applications raise substantially like questions, and because of the importance and novelty of some of those presented, we set the two applications down for oral argument as one dase.
*5From the petitions and supporting papers it appears that prior to September 3,1945, petitioner was the Commanding General of the Fourteenth Army Group of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippine Islands. On that date he surrendered to and became a prisoner of war of the United States Army Forces in Baguio, Philippine Islands. On September 25th, by order of respondent, Lieutenant General Wilhelm D. Styer, Commanding General of the United States Army Forces, Western Pacific, which command embraces the Philippine Islands, petitioner was served with a charge prepared by the Judge Advocate General’s Department of the Army, purporting to charge petitioner with a violation of the law of war. On October 8,1945, petitioner, after pleading not guilty to the charge, was held for trial before a military commission of five Army officers appointed by order of General Styer. The order appointed six Army officers, all lawyers, as defense counsel. Throughout the proceedings which followed, including those before this Court, defense counsel have demonstrated their professional skill and resourcefulness and their proper zeal for the defense with which they were charged.
On the same date a bill of particulars was filed by the prosecution, and the commission heard a motion made in petitioner’s behalf to dismiss the charge on the ground that it failed to state a violation of the law of war. On October 29th the commission was reconvened, a supplemental bill of particulars was filed, and the motion to dismiss was denied. The trial then proceeded until its conclusion on December 7, 1945, the commission hearing two hundred and eighty-six witnesses, who gave over three thousand pages of testimony. • On that date petitioner was found guilty of the offense as charged and sentenced to death by hanging.
The petitions for habeas gorpus set up that the detention of petitioner for the purpose of the trial was unlawful for *6reasons which are now urged as showing that the military commission was without lawful authority or jurisdiction to place petitioner on trial, as follows:
(a) That the military commission which tried and convicted petitioner was not lawfully created, and that no military commission to try petitioner for violations of the law of war .could lawfully be convened after the cessation of hostilities between the armed forces of the United States and Japan;
(b) That the charge preferred against petitioner fails to charge him with a violation of the law of war;
(c) That the commission was without authority and jurisdiction to try and convict petitioner because the order governing the procedure of the commission permitted the admission in evidence of depositions, affidavits and hearsay and opinion evidence, and because the commission’s rulings admitting such evidence were in violation of the 25th and 38th Articles of War (10 U. S. C. §§ 1496, 1509). and the Geneva Convention (47 Stat. 2021), and deprived petitioner of a fair trial.in violation of the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment;
(d) That the commission was without authority and jurisdiction in the premises because of'the failure to give advance notice of petitioner’s trial to the neutral powei representing the interests of Japan as a belligerent as required by Article 60' of the Geneva Convention, 47 Stat. 2021,2051.
On the same grounds the petitions for writs of prohibition set up that the commission is without authority to proceed with the trial.
The Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands, after hearing argument, denied the petition for habeas corpus presehted to it, on the ground, among others, that its jurisdiction-was limitéd to an inquiry as to the jurisdiction of the commission, to place petitioner on trial for the offense charged, and that the commission, being validly consti*7tuted by the order of General Styer, had jurisdiction oyer the person of petitioner and over the trial for the offense charged.
In Ex parte Quirin, 317 U. S. 1, we had occasion to consider at length the sources and nature of the authority to create military commissions for the trial of enemy combatants for offenses against the law of war. We there pointed out that Congress, in the exercise of the power conferred upon it by Article I, § 8, Cl. 10 of the Constitution to “define and punish . . . Offences against the Law of Nations . . .,” of which the law of war is a part, had by the Articles of War (10 TJ. S. C. §§ 1471-1593) recognized the “military commission” appointed by military command, as it had previously existed in United States Army practice, as an appropriate tribunal for the trial and punishment of offenses against the law of war. Article 15 declares that the “provisions of these articles conferring jurisdiction upon courts martial shall not be construed as depriving military commissions ... or other military tribunals of concurrent jurisdiction in respect of offenders or offenses that by statute or by the law of war may be triable by such military commissions . . . or other military tribunals.” See a similar provision of the Espionage Act of 1917,50 U. S. C. § 38. Article 2 includes among those persons subject to the Articles of War the personnel of our own military establishment. But this, as Article 12 indicates, does not exclude from the class of persons subject to trial by military commissions “any other person who by the law of war is subject to trial by military tribunals,” and who, under Article 12, may be tried by court-martial, or under Article 15 by military commission.
We further pointed out that Congress, by sanctioning trial of enemy combatants for violations of the law of war by military commission, had not attempted to codify the law of war or to mark its precise boundaries. Instead, by Article 15 it had incorporated, by reference, as within the *8preexisting jurisdiction of military commissions created by appropriate military command, all offenses which are defined as such by the law of war, and which may constitutionally be included within that jurisdiction. It thus adopted the system of military common law applied by military tribunals so far as it should be recognized and deemed applicable by the courts, and as further defined and supplemented by the Hague Convention, to which the United States and the Axis powers were parties.
We also emphasized in Ex parte Quirin; as we do here, that on application for habeas corpus we are not concerned with the guilt or innocence of the petitioners. We consider here only the lawful power of the commission to try the petitioner for the offense charged. In the present cases it must be recognized throughout that the military tribunals which Congress has sanctioned by the Articles of War are not courts whose rulings and judgments are made subject to review by this Court. See Ex parte Vallandigham, 1 Wall. 243; In re Vidal, 179 U. S. 126; cf. Ex parte Quirin, supra, 39. They are tribunals whose determinations are reviewable by the military authorities either as provided in the military orders constituting such tribunals or as provided by the Articles of War. Congress conferred on the courts no power to review their determinations save only as it has granted judicial power “to grant writs of habeas corpus for the purpose of an inquiry into the cause of restraint of liberty.” 28 U. S. C. §§451, 452. The courts may inquire whether the detention complained of is within the authority of those detaining the petitioner. If the military tribunals have lawful authority to hear, decide and condemn, their action is not subject to judicial review merely because they have made a wrong decision on disputed facts. Correction of their errors of decision is not for the courts but for the military authorities which aré alone authorized to review their decisions. See Dynes v. Hoover, 20 How. 65, 81; Runkle v. United States, 122 *9U. S. 543, 555-556; Carter v. McClaughry, 183 U. S. 365; Collins v. McDonald, 258 U. S.416. Cf. Matter of Moran, 203 U. S. 96, 105.
Finally, we held in Ex parte Quirin, supra, 24, 25, as we hold now, that Congress by sanctioning trials of enemy aliens by military commission for offenses against the law of war had recognized the right of the accused to make a defense. Cf. Ex parte Kawato, 317 U. S. 69. It has not foreclosed their right to contend that the Constitution or laws of the United States withhold authority to proceed with the trial. It has not withdrawn, and the Executive branch of the Government could not, unless there was suspension of the writ, withdraw from the courts the duty and power to make such inquiry into the authority of the commission as may be made by habeas corpus.
With these governing principles in mind we turn to the consideration of the several contentions urged to establish want of authority in the commission. We are not here concerned with the power of military commissions to try civilians. See Ex parte Milligan, 4 Wall. 2, 132; Sterling v. Constantin, 287 U. S. 378; Ex parte Quirin, supra, 45. The Government’s contention is that General Styer’s order creating the commission conferred authority on it only to try the purported charge of violation of the law of war committed by petitioner, an enemy belligerent, while in command of a hostile army occupying United States territory during time of war. Our first inquiry must therefore be whether the present commission was created by lawful military command and, if so, whether authority could thus be conferred on the commission to place petitioner on trial after the cessation of hostilities between the armed forces of the United States and Japan.
The authority to create the commission. General Styer’s order for the appointment of the commission was made by him as Commander of the United States Army Forces, Western Pacific. His command includes, as part *10of a vastly greater area, the Philippine Islands, wherM the alleged offenses were committed, where petitioner surrendered as a prisoner of war, and where, at the time of the order convening the commission, he was detained as a pris oner in custody of the United States Army. The congressional recognition of military commissions and its sanction of their use in trying offenses against the law of war to which we have referred, sanctioned their creation by military command in conformity to long-established American precedents. Such a commission may be appointed by any field commander, or by any commander competent to appoint a general court-martial, as was General Styer, who had been vested with that power by order of the President. 2 Winthrop, Military Law and Precedents, 2d ed., *1302; cf. Article of War 8. .
Here the commission was not only created by a commander competent to appoint it, but his order conformed to the established policy of the Government and to higher military commands authorizing his action. In a proclamation of July 2,1942 (56 Stat. 1964), the President proclaimed that enemy belligerents who, during time of war, enter the United States, or any territory or possession thereof, and who violate the law of war, should be subject to the law of war and to the jurisdiction of military tribunals. ' Paragraph 10 of the Declaration of Potsdam of July 26,1945, declared that “. . . stern justice shall be meted out to all war criminals, including those who have visited cruelties upon our prisoners.” U. S. Dept. of State Bull., Vol. XIII, No. 318, pp. 137-138. This Declaration was accepted by the Japanese government by its note of August 10, 1945. U. S. Dept. of State Bull., Vol. XIII, No. 320, p. 205.
By direction of the President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the American Military Forces, on September 12,1945, instructed General MacArthur, Commander in Chief, United States Army Forces, Pacific, to proceed with the trial, be-' *11fore appropriate military tribunals, of such Japanese war criminals “as have been or may be apprehended.” By order of General MacArthur of September 24, 1945, General Styer was specifically directed to proceed with the trial of petitioner upon the charge here involved. This order was accompanied by detailed rules and regulations which General MacArthur prescribed for the trial of war criminals. These regulations directed, among other things, that review of the sentence imposed by the commission should be by the officer convening it, with “authority to approve, mitigate, remit, commute, suspend, reduce or. otherwise alter the sentence imposed,” and directed that no sentence of death should be carried into effect until confirmed by the Commander in Chief, United States Army Forces, Pacific.
It thus appears that the order creating the commission for the trial of petitioner was authorized by military command, and was in complete conformity to the Act of Congress sanctioning the creation of such tribunals for the trial of offenses against the law pf war committed by enemy combatants. And we turn to the question whether the authority to create the commission and direct the trial by military order continued after the cessation of hostilities.
An important incident to the conduct of war is the adoption of measures by the military commander, not only to repel and defeat the enemy, but to seize and subject to disciplinary measures those enemies who, in their attempt to thwart or impede our military effort, have violated the law of war. Ex parte Quirin, supra, 28. The trial and punishment of enemy combatants who have committed violations of ,the law of war is thus not only a part of the conduct of war operating as a preventive measure against such violations, but is an exercise of the authority sanctioned by Congress to administer the system of military justice recognized by the law of war. That sanction is without qualification as to the exercise of this authority so *12long as a state of war exists — from its declaration until peace is proclaimed. See United States v. Anderson, 9 Wall. 56, 70; The Protector, 12 Wall. 700, 702; McElrath v. United States, 102 U. S. 426, 438; Kahn v. Anderson, 255 U. S. 1, 9-10. The war power, from which the commission derives its existence, is not limited to victories in the field, but carries with it the inherent power to guard against the immediate renewal of the conflict, and to remedy, at least in ways Congress has recognized, the evils which the military operations have produced. See Stewart v. Kahn, 11 Wall. 493, 507.
We cannot say that there is no authority to-.convene a commission after hostilities have ended to try violations of the law of war committed before their cessation, at least until peace has been officially recognized by treaty or proclamation of the political branch of the Government. In fact, in most instances the practical administration of the system of military justice under the law of war would fail if such authority were thought to end with the cessation of .hostilities. For only after their cessation could the greater number of offenders and the principal ones be apprehended and subjected to trial.
No writer on international law appears to have regarded the power of military tribunals, otherwise competent to try violations of the law of war, as terminating before the formal state of war has ended.1 In our own military his*13tory there have been numerous instances in which offenders were tried by military commission after the cessation of hostilities and before the proclamation of peace, for offenses against the law of war committed before the cessation of hostilities2
The extent to which the power to prosecute violations of the law of war shall be exercised before peace is declared rests, not with the courts, but with the political branch of the Government, and may itself be governed by the terms of an armistice or the treaty of peace. Here, peace has not been agreed upon or proclaimed. Japan, by her acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and her surrender, has acquiesced in the trials of those guilty of violations of the law of war. The conduct of the trial by the military commission has been authorized by the political branch of the Government, by military command, by international law and usage, and by the terms of the surrender of the Japanese government.
The charge. Neither congressional action nor the military orders constituting the commission authorized it to place petitioner on trial unless the charge preferred against him is of a violation of the law of war. The charge, so far as now relevant, is that petitioner, between October 9,1944 and September 2, 1945, in the Philippine Islands, “while commander of armed forces of Japan at war with the United States of America and its allies, unlawfully disregarded and failed to discharge his duty as commander to *14control the operations of the members-of his command, permitting them to commit brutal atrocities and other high crimes against people of the United. States and of its allies and dependencies, particularly the Philippines;' and he . . . thereby violated the laws of war.”
Bills of particulars, filed by the prosecution by order of the commission, allege a series of acts, one' hundred and twenty-three in number, committed by members of the forces under petitioner’s command during the period mentioned. The first item specifies the execution of “á deliberate plan and purpose to massacre and exterminate a large part of the civilian population of Batangas Province, and to devastate and destroy public, private and religious property therein, as a result of which more than 25,000 men, women and children, all unarmed’.noncombatant, civilians, were brutally mistreated and killed, without cause or trial, and entire settlements were devastated and destroyed wantonly and without military necessity.” Other items specify acts of violence, cruelty and homicide .inflicted upon the civilian population and prisoners of war, acts of wholesale pillage and the wanton destruction of religious monuments.
It is not denied that such acts directed against the civilian population of an occupied country and against prisoners of war are recognized in international law as violations of the law of war. Articles 4, 28, 46, and 47, Annex to the Fourth Hague Convention, 1907, 36 Stat. 2277, 2296, 2303, 2306-7. But it is urged that the charge does not allege that petitioner has either committed or directed the commission of such afets, and consequently that no violation is charged as against him. But this overlooks the fact that the gist of the charge is an unlawful breach of duty by petitioner as an army commander to control the operations of the members of his command by “permitting them to commit” the extensive and widespread atrocities specified. . The question then is whether the law of war imposes *15on an army commander a duty to take such appropriate measures as áre within his power to control the troops under his command for the prevention of the specified acts which are violations of the law'of war and which are likely' to áttend the occupation of hostile territory by an uncontrolled soldiery, and whether he may be charged with personal responsibility for his failure to take such measures when violations result. That this was the precise issue to be tried was made clear by the statement of the prosecution at the opening of the trial.
It is evident that the conduct of military operations by troops whose excesses are unrestrained by the orders or efforts of their commander would almost certainly result in violations which it is the purpose of the law of war to prevent. Its purpose to protect civilian populations and prisoners of war from brutality would largely be defeated if the commander of an invading army could with impunity neglect to take reasonable measures for their protection. Hence the law of war presupposes that its violation is to be avoided through the control of the operations of war by commanders who áre to some extent responsible for their subordinates.
This is recognized by the Annex to the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907, respecting the laws and customs of war on land. Article 1 lays down as a condition which an armed force must fulfill in order to be accorded the rights of lawful belligerents, that it must be “commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates.” 36 Stat. 2295. Similarly Article 19 of the Tenth Hague Convention, relating to bombardment by naval vessels, provides that commanders in chief of the belligerent vessels “must see that the above Articles are properly carried out.” 36 Stat. 2389. And Article 26 of the Geneva Red Cross Convention of 1929,47 Stat. 2074,2092, for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armies in the field, makes it “the duty of the commanders-in-chief of the bel*16ligerent armies to provide for the details of execution of the foregoing articles, [of the convention] as well as for unforeseen cases . . .” And, finally, Article 43 of the Annex of the Fourth Hague Convention, 36 Stat. 2306, requires that the commander of a force occupying enemy territory, as was petitioner, “shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.”
These provisions plainly imposed on petitioner, who at the time specified was military governor of the Philippines, as well as commander of the Japanese forces, an affirmative duty to take such measures as were within his power and appropriate in the circumstances to protect prisoners of war and the civilian population. This duty of a commanding officer has heretofore been recognized, and its breach penalized by our own military tribunals.3 A like principle has been applied so as to impose liability on the United Státes in international arbitrations. Case of Jeannaud, 3 Moore, International Arbitrations, 3000; Case of The Zafiro, 5 Hackworth, Digest of International Law, 707.
We do not make the laws of war but we respect them so far as they do not conflict with the commands of Congress or the Constitution. There is no contention that the present charge, thus read, is without the support of evidence, or that the commission held petitioner responsible for failing to take measures which were beyond his control or inappropriate for a commanding officer to take in the circum*17stances.4 We do not here appraise the evidence on which petitioner was convicted. We do not consider what measures, if any, petitioner took to prevent the commission, by the troops under his command, of the plain violations of the law of war detailed in the bill of particulars, or whether such measures as he may have taken were appropriate and sufficient to discharge the duty imposed upon him. These are questions within the peculiar competence of the military officers composing the commission and were for it to decide. See Smith v. Whitney, 116 U. S. 167, 178. It is plain that the charge on which petitioner was tried charged him with a breach of his duty to control the operations of the members of his command, by permitting them to commit the specified atrocities. This was enough to require the commission to hear evidence tending to establish the culpable failure of petitioner to perform the duty imposed on him by the law of war and to pass upon its sufficiency to establish guilt.
Obviously charges of violations of the law of war triable before a military tribunal need not be stated with the precision of a common law indictment. Cf. Collins v. McDonald, supra, 420. But we conclude that the allegations of the charge, tested by any reasonable standard, adequately allege a violation of the law of war and that the *18commission had authority to try and decide the issue which it raised. Cf. Dealy v. United, States, 152 U. S. 539; Williamson v. United States, 207 U. S. 425, 447; Glasser v. United States, 315 U. S. 60, 66, and cases cited.
The proceedings before the commission. The regulations prescribed by General MacArthur governing the procedure for the trial of petitioner by the commission directed that the commission should admit such evidence “as in its opinion would be of assistance in proving or disproving the charge, or such as in the commission’s opinion would have probative value in the mind of a reasonable man,” and that in particular it might admit affidavits, depositions or' other statements taken by officers detailed for that purpose by military authority. The petitions in this case charged that in the course of the trial the commission received, over objection by petitioner’s counsel, the deposition of a witness taken pursuant to military authority by a United States Army captain. It also, over like objection, admitted hearsay and opinion evidence tendered by the prosecution. Petitioner argues, as ground for the writ of habeas corpus, that Article 255 of the Articles of War prohibited the reception in evidence by the commission of depositions on behalf of the prosecution in a capital case, and that Article 386 prohibited the reception of hearsay and of opinion evidence.
*19We think that neither Article 25 nor Article 38 is applicable to the trial of an enemy combatant by a military commission for violations of the law of war. Article 2 of the Articles of War enumerates “the persons . . . subject to these articles,” who are denominated, for purposes of the Articles, as “persons subject to military law.” In general, the persons so enumerated are members of our own Army and of the personnel accompanying the Army. Enemy combatants are not included among them. Articles 12,13 and 14, before the adoption of Article 15 in 1916, made all “persons subject to military law” amenable to-trial by courts-martial for any offense made punishable by the Articles of War. Article 12 makes triable by general court-martial “any other person who by the law of war is subject to trial by military tribunals.” Since Article 2, in. its 1916 form, includes some persons who, by the law of war, were, prior to 1916, triable by military commission, it was feared by the proponents of the 1916 legislation that in the absence of a saving provision, the authority given by Articles 12, 13 and 14 to try such persons before courts-martial might be construed to deprive the non-statutory military commission of a portion of w;hat was considered to be its traditional jurisdiction. To avoid this, and to preserve that jurisdiction intact, Article 15 was added to the Articles.7 It declared that “The provisions of these articles *20conferring jurisdiction upon courts-martial shall not be construed as depriving military commissions ... of concurrent jurisdiction in respect of offenders or offenses that ... by the law of war may be triable by such military commissions.”
By thus recognizing military commissions in order to preserve their traditional jurisdiction over enemy combatants unimpaired by the Articles, Congress gave sanction, as we held in Ex parte Quirin, to any use of the military commission contemplated by the common law of war. But it did not thereby make subject to the Articles of War persons other than those defined by Article 2 as being subject to the Articles, nor did it confer the benefits of the Articles upon such persons. The Articles recognized but one kind of military commission, not two. But they sanctioned the use of that one for the trial of two classes of persons, to one of which the Articles do, and to the other of which they do not, apply in such trials. Being of this latter class, petitioner cannot claim the benefits of the Articles, which are applicable only to the members of the other class. Petitioner, an enemy combatant, is therefore not a person made subject to the Articles of War by Article 2, and the military commission before which he was tried, though sanctioned, and its jurisdiction saved, by Article 15, was not convened by virtue of the Articles of War, but pursuant to the common law of war. It follows that the Articles of War, including Articles 25 and 38, were not applicable to petitioner’s trial and imposed no restrictions upon the procedure to be followed. The Articles left the control over the procedure in such a case where it had previously been, with the military command.
Petitioner further urges that by virtue of Article 63 of the Geneva Convention of 1929,47 Stat. 2052, he is entitled to the benefits afforded by the 25th and 38th Articles of War to members of our own forces. Article 63 provides: “Sentence may be pronounced against a prisoner of war *21only by the same courts and according to the same procedure as in the case of persons belonging to the armed forces of the detaining Power.” Since petitioner is a prisoner of war, and as the 25th and 38th-Articles of War apply to the trial of any person in our own armed forces, it is said that Article 63 requires them to be applied in the trial of petitioner. But we think examination of Article 63 in its setting in the Convention plainly shows that it'refers to sentence “pronounced against a prisoner of war” for an offense committed while a prisoner of war, and not for a violation of the law of war committed while a combatant.
Article 63 of the Convention appears in part 3, entitled “Judicial Suits,” of Chapter 3, “Penalties Applicable to Prisoners of War,” of § V, “Prisoners’ Relations with the Authorities,” one of the sections of Title III, “Captivity.” All taken together relate only to the conduct and control of prisoners of war while in captivity ~as such. Chapter 1 of § Y, Article 42 deals with complaints of prisoners of war because of the conditions of captivity. Chapter 2, Articles 43 and 44, relates to those of their number chosen by prisoners of war to represent them.
Chapter 3 of § V, Articles 45 through 67, is entitled “Penalties Applicable to Prisoners of War.” Part 1 of that chapter, Articles 45 through 53, indicate what acts of prisoners of war, committed while prisoners, shall be considered offenses, and defines to some extent the punishment which the detaining power may impose on account of such offenses.8 Punishment is of two kinds — “disciplinary” and *22“judicial,” the latter being the more severe. Article 52 requires that leniency be exercised in deciding whether an offense requires disciplinary or judicial punishment. Part 2 of Chapter 3 is entitled “Disciplinary Punishments,” and further defines the extent of such punishment, and the mode in which it may be imposed. Part 3, entitled “Judicial Suits,” in which Article 63 is found, describes the procedure by which “judicial” punishment may be imposed. The three parts of Chapter 3, taken together/are thus a comprehensive description of the substantive offenses which prisoners of war ¡may commit during their imprisonment, of the penalties which may be imposed on account of such offenses, and of the procedure by which guilt may be adjudged and sentence pronounced.
We think it clear, from the context of these recited provisions, that part 3, and Article 63, which it contains, apply only to judicial proceedings directed against a prisoner of war for offenses committed while a prisoner of war. Sec*23tion V gives no indication that this part was designed to deal with offenses other than those referred to in parts 1 and 2 of Chapter 3.
We cannot say that the commission, in admitting evidence to which objection is now made, violated any act of Congress, treaty or military command defining the commission’s authority. For reasons already stated we hold that the commission’s rulings on evidence and on the mode of conducting these proceedings against petitioner are not reviewable by the courts, but only by the reviewing mili- ' tary authorities. From this viewpoint it is unnecessary to consider what, in other situations, the Fifth Amendment might require, and as to that no intimation one way or the other is to be implied. Nothing we have said is to be taken as indicating any opinion on the question of the wisdom of considering such evidence, or whether the action of a military tribunal in admitting evidence, which Congress or controlling military command has directed to be excluded, may be drawn in question by petition for habeas corpus or prohibition.
Effect of failure to give notice of the trial to the protecting power. Article 60 of the Geneva Convention of July 27, 1929, 47 Stat. 2051, to which the United States and Japan were signatories, provides that “At the opening of a judicial proceeding directed against a prisoner of war, the detaining Power shall advise the representative of the protecting Power thereof as soon as possible, and always before the date set for the opening of the trial.” Petitioner relies on the failure to give the prescribed notice to the protecting power9 to establish want of authority in the commission to proceed with the trial.
*24For reasons already stated we conclude that Article 60 of the Geneva Convention, which appears in part 3, Chapter 3, § V, Title III of the Geneva Convention, applies only to persons who are subjected to judicial proceedings for offenses committed while prisoners of war.10
*25It thus appears that the order convening the commission was a lawful order, that the commission was lawfully constituted, that petitioner was charged with violation of the law of war, and that the commission had authority to proceed with the trial, and in doing so did not violate any military, statutory or constitutional command. We have considered, but find it unnecessary to discuss, other contentions which we find to be without merit. We therefore conclude that the detention of petitioner for trial and his detention upon his conviction, subject to the prescribed review by the military authorities, were lawful, and that the petition for certiorari, and leave to file in this Court *26petitions for writs of habeas corpus and prohibition should be, and they are

Denied.

Mr. Justice Jackson took no part in the consideration or decision of these cases.

 The Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on the Enforcement of Penalties of the Versailles Peace Conference, which met after cessation of hostilities in the First World War, were of the view that violators of the law of war could be tried by military tribunals. See Report of the Commission, March 9, 1919, 14 Am. J. Int." L. 95, 121. See also memorandum of American commissioners concurring on this point, id., at p. 141. The treaties of peace concluded after World War I recognized the right of the Allies and of the United States to try such offenders before military tribunals. See Art, 228 of Treaty of Versailles, June 28, 1919; Art. 173 of Treaty of *13St. Germain, Sept. 10, 1919; Art. 157 of Treaty of Trianon, June 4, 1920.
The terms of the agreement which ended hostilities in the Boer War reserved the right to try, before military tribunals, enemy combatants who had violated the law of war. 95 British and Foreign State Papers (1901-1902) 160. See also trials cited in Colby, War Crimes, 23 Michigan Law Rev. 482, 496-7.

 See cases mentioned in Ex parte Quirin, supra, p. 32, note 10, and in 2 Winthrop, supra, *1310-1311, n. 5; 14 Op. A. G. 249 (Modoc Indian Prisoners).

 Failure of an officer to take measures to prevent murder of an inhabitant of an occupied country committed in his presence. Gen. Orders No. 221, Hq. Div. of the Philippines, August 17, 1901. And in Gen. Orders No. 264, Hq. Div. of the Philippines, September 9, 1901, it was held that an officer could not be found guilty for failure to prevent a murder unless it appeared that the accused had “the power to prevent” it.

 In its findings the commission took account of the difficulties “faced by the Accused with respect not only to the swift and overpowering advance of American forces, but also to the errors of his predecessors, weaknesses in organization, equipment, supply . . ., training, communication, discipline and morale of his troops,” and the “tactical situation, the character, training and capacity of staff officers and subordinate commanders as well as the traits of character ... of his troops.” It nonetheless found that petitioner had not taken such measures to control his troops as were “required by the circumstances.” We do not weigh the evidence. We merely hold that the charge sufficiently states a violation against the law of war, and that the commission, upon the facts found, could properly find petitioner guilty of such a violation.

 Article 25 provides: “A duly authenticated deposition taken upon reasonable notice to the opposite party may be read in evidence before any military court or commission in any case not capital, or in any proceeding before a court of inquiry or a military board, . . . Provided, That testimony by deposition may be adduced for the defense in capátal cases.”

 Article 38 provides: “The President may, by regulations, which he may modify from time to time, prescribe the procedure, including modes of proof, in cases before courts-martial, courts of inquiry, military commissions, and other military tribunals, which regulations shall insofar as he shall deem practicable, apply the rules of evidence generally recognized in the trial of criminal cases in the district courts of the United States: Provided, That nothing contrary to or inconsistent with these articles shall be so prescribed: . . .”

 General Crowder, the Judge Advocate General, who appeared before Congress as sponsor for the adoption of Article 15 and the accompanying amendment of. Article 25, in explaining the purpose of Article 15, said:
“Article 15 is new. We have included in article 2 as subject to military law a number of persons who are also subject to trial by military commission. A military commission is our cOmmon-law war court. It has no statutory existence, though' it is recognized by statute law. As long as the articles embraced them in the designation ‘persons subject to military law,’ and provided that they • might be tried by court-martial, I was afraid that, having made a special provision for their trial by court-martial, [Arts. 12, 13, and 14] it might be held that the provision operated to exclude trials by military commission and other war courts; so this new article was introduced:...’’ (Sen. R. 130, 64th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 40.)

 Part 1 of Chapter 3, “General Provisions,” provides in Articles 45 and 46 that prisoners of war are subject to the regulations in force in the armies of the detaining power, that punishments other than those provided “for the same acts for soldiers of the national armies” may not be imposed on prisoners of war, and that “Collective punishment for individual acts” is forbidden. Article 47 provides that “Acts constituting an offense against discipline, and particularly attempted escape, shall be verified immediately; for all prisoners of war; commissioned *22or not, preventive arrest shall be reduced to the absolute minimum. Judicial proceedings against prisoners of war shall be conducted as rapidly as the circumstances permit ... In all cases, the duration of preventive imprisonment shall be deducted from the disciplinary or judicial punishment inflicted . . .”
Article 48 provides that prisoners of war, after having suffered “the judicial or disciplinary punishment which has been imposed on them,” are not to be treated differently from other prisoners, but provides that “prisoners punished as a result of attempted escape may be subjected to special surveillance.” Article 49 recites that prisoners “given disciplinary punishment may not be deprived of the prerogatives attached to their rank.” Articles 50 and 51 deal with escaped prisoners who have been retaken or prisoners who have attempted to escape. Article 52 provides: “Belligerents shall see that the competent authorities exercise the greatest leniency in deciding the question of whether an infraction committed by a prisoner of war should be punished by disciplinary or judicial measures. This shall be the case especially when it is a question of deciding on acts in connection with escape or attempted escape. . . . A prisoner may not be punished more than once because of the same act or the same count.”

 Switzerland, at the time of the trial, was the power designated by-Japan for the protection of Japanese prisoners of war detained by the United States, except in Hawaii. U. S. Dept. of State Bull., Vol. XIII, No. 317, p. 125.

 One of the items of the bill of particulars, in support of the charge against petitioner, specifies that he permitted members of the armed forces under his command to try and execute three named and other prisoners .of war, “subjecting to trial without prior notice to a representative of the protecting power, without opportunity to defend, and without counsel; denying opportunity to appeal from the sentence rendered; failing to notify the protecting power of the sentence pronounced; and executing a death sentence without communicating to the representative of the protecting power the nature and circumstances of the offense charged.” It might be suggested that if Article 60 is inapplicable to petitioner it is inapplicable in the cases specified, and that hence he could not be lawfully held or convicted on a charge' of failing to require the notice, provided for in Article 60, to be given.
As the Government insists, it does not appear from the charge and specifications that the prisoners in question were not charged with offenses committed by them as prisoners rather than with offenses against the law of war committed by them as enemy combatants. But apart from this consideration, independently of the notice requirements of the Geneva Convention, it is a violation of the law of war, on which there could be a conviction if supported by evidence, to inflict capital punishment on prisoners of war without affording to them opportunity to make a defense. 2 Winthrop, supra, *434-435, 1241; Article 84, Oxford Manual, Laws and Customs of War on Land; U. S. War Dept., Basic Field Manual, Rules of Land Warfare (1940) par. 356; Lieber’s Code, G. O. No. 100 (1863) Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, par. 12; Spaight, War Rights on Land, 462, n.
Further, the commission, in making its findings, summarized as follows the charges, on which it acted, in three classes, any one of which, independently of the others if supported by evidence, would be sufficient to. support the conviction: (I) execution or massacre without trial and maladministration generafiy of civilian internees and prisoners of war; (2) brutalities committed upon the civilian population, and (3) burning and demolition, without adequate military necessity, of a *25large number of homes, places of business, places of religious worship, hospitals, public buildings and educational institutions.
The commission concluded: “ (1) That a series of atrocities and other high crimes have been committed by members of the Japanese armed forces” under command of petitioner “against people of the United States, their allies and dependencies . . .; that they were not sporadic in nature but in many cases were methodically supervised by Japanese officers and noncommissioned officers”; (2) that during the period in question petitioner “failed to provide effective control of . . . [his] troops, as was required by the circumstances.” The commission said: “. . . where murder and rape and vicious, revengeful actions are widespread offenses, and there is no effective attempt by a commander to discover and control the criminal acts,’ such a commander may be held responsible, even criminally liable, for the lawless acts of his troops, depending upon their nature and the circumstances surrounding them.”
The commission made no finding of non-compliance with the Geneva Convention. Nothing has been brought to our attention .from which we could conclude that the alleged non-compliance with Article 60 of the Geneva Convention had any relation to the commission’s finding of a series of atrocities committed by members of. the forces under petitioner’s command, and that he failed to provide effective control of his troops, as was required by the circumstances; or which could support the petitions for habeas corpus on the ground that petitioner had been charged with or convicted for failure to require the notice prescribed by Article 60 to be given.