There is criticism to the effect that because Japan accepted the International Military Tribunal for the Far East by being party to the Treaty of San Francisco it is a violation of that Treaty for a prime minister to visit Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals are deified. If so, why was Foreign Minister Shigemitsu not condemned in the United Nations? Why did the Japanese government not strip him of his Grand Cordon of the Order? The reason is that it was decided a matter of a national consensus, in domestic law, that they would not be treated as criminals. In 1951, the then Minister of Justice answered [a question in the Diet], “Under domestic law, it is not appropriate in any sense that they be treated as criminals.” Furthermore, in 1952, when the Peace Treaty came into effect, with the consent of the various countries involved, the Diet passed a resolution to pardon war criminals. It is the same for those who are referred to as “Class-B or C war criminals.” People who are sentenced to a heavier punishment than three years’ imprisonment cannot usually receive a pension, but because war criminals are not criminals in terms of domestic law their right to receive a pension did not disappear. Also, bereaved family pension is paid based on the Law for Relief of War Victims and Survivors.
Name
Shinzo Abe
Position
A Member of the House of Representatives
Party
The Liberal Democratic Party
Date of Speech
2006/7/1
Place of Speech
Shinzo Abe's Official Home Page
Source
著書「美しい国へ」から安倍晋三語録
第二章 自立する国家 (Analects of Shinzo Abe from Toward a Beautiful Country, Chapter 2 "A Country Standing on Its Feet")
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