ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI WAS AN ILLEGAL ACT IN VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

【英文】 PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW - ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI WAS AN ILLEGAL ACT IN VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. The Japanese Government presented a letter of protest as stated below, to the Government of the United States through the Government of Switzerland on August 10, 1945. August 10, 1945 A New-Type, Cruel Bomb Ignoring International law; Imperial Govern-ment Protest to the Government of the United States. With regard to the attack by a new-type bomb on the city of Hiroshima by a B-29 bomber on the 6th inst. the Imperial Government filed the following protest on the 10th inst. to the Government of the United States through the Government of Switzerland, and gave instructions to the Japanese Minister to Switzerland, Kase, to make the explanation of explanation of the same effect to the Inter-national Committee of Red Cross. Protest against the Attack of a New-Type Bomb by American Airplane: On the 6th of this month, an airplane of the United States dropped a new-type bomb on the urban district of the city of Hiroshima, and it killed and wounded a large number of the citizens and destroyed the bulk of the city. The city of Hiroshima is an crdinary local city which is not provided with any military defensive preparations or establishments, and the whole city has not a character of a military objective. In the statement on the aerial bom-bardment in this case, the United States President “Truman” asserts that they will destroy docks, factories and transport facilities. However, since the bomb in this case, dropped by a parachute, explodes in the air and extends the destructive effect to quite a wide sphere, it is clear to be quite impossible in technique to limit the effect of attack thereby to such specific objectives as mentioned above; and the above efficiency of the bomb in this case is already known to the United States. In the light of the actual state of damage, the damaged district covers a wide area, and those who were in the district were all killed indiscriminately by bomb-shell blast and radiant heat without dis-tinction of combatant or non-combatant or of age or sex. The damaged sphere is general and immense, and judging from the most cruel one that ever existed. It is a fundamental principle of international law in time of war that a belligerent has not an unlimited right in chosing the means of injuring the enemy, and should not use such weapons, projectiles, and other material as cause unnecessary pain; and these are each expressly stipulated in the annex of the Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and artices 22 and 23(e) of the Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land. Since the beginning of the present World War, the Government of the United States has declared repeatedly that the use of poison or other inhumane methods of warfare has been regarded as illegal by the pubic opin-ion in civilized countries, and that the United States would not use these methods of warfare unless the other countries used these first. However, the bomb in this case, which the United States used this time, exceeds by far the indiscriminate and cruel character of efficiency, the poison and other weapons the use of which has been prohibited hitherto because of such an efficiency. Disregarding a fundamental principle of international law and humanity, the United States has already made indiscriminate aerial bombardments on cities of the Empire in very wide areas, and it has already killed and injured a large number of old people, children, and women and collapsed or burned down shrines, temples, schools, hospital and ordinary private houses. Also, the United States has used the new bomb in this case which has indiscriminate and cruel character beyond comparison with all weapons and projectile of the past. This is a new offence against the civilization of mankind. The Imperial Government impeaches the Government of the United States in its own name and the name of all mankind and of civilization, and demands strongly that the Government of the United States give up the use of such an inhumane weapon instantly. Note: Japan Branch of the International Law Association, Japanese Annual of International Law, 8, pp.251-2. (Tokyo: 1964) 米機の新型爆弾による攻撃に対する抗議文】 今月６日、米国航空機は、広島市の市街地区に対し新型爆弾を投下し、瞬時にして多数の市民を殺傷し同市の大半を潰滅させました。 広島市は、何ら特殊の軍事的防衛機能や、そのための施設を施していない普通の一地方都市です。 同市全体を、ひとつの軍事目標にするような性質を持つ町ではありません。 本件爆撃に関する声明において、米国トルーマン大統領は、「われらは船渠（せんきょ）工場および交通施設を破壊した」と言っています。 しかしこの爆弾は、落下傘を付けて投下され、空中で炸裂し、極めて広い範囲への破壊的効力を及ぼすものです。 つまり、この爆弾で、この投下方法を用いるとき、攻撃の効果を右のような特定目標に限定することは、物理的に全然不可能なことは明白です。 そして本件爆弾が、どのような性能を持つものであるかは、米国側は、すでに承知しているものです。 実際の被害状況は、広範囲にわたって交戦者、非交戦者の別なく、男女老幼を問わず、すべて爆風および幅射熱によって無差別に殺傷されました。 その被害範囲は広く、かつ甚大であるだけでなく、個々の傷害状況を見ても、「惨虐」なるものです。 およそ交戦者は、害敵手段の選択について、無制限の権利を有するものではありません。 不必要の苦痛を与えるような兵器、投射物その他を使用してはならないことは、戦時国際法の根本原則です。 そのことは、戦時国際法であるハーグ陸戦条約規則第２２条、及び第２３条（ホ）号に明定されています。 米国政府はこのたびの世界大戦勃発以来、再三にわたって、 「毒ガスその他の非人道的戦争方法の使用は文明社会の世論によって不法であり、相手国が先に使用しない限り、これを使用することはない」と声明しています。 しかし、米国が今回使用した本件爆弾は、その性能の無差別かつ惨虐性において、従来かかる性能を有するが故に使用を禁止せられをる毒ガスその他の兵器よりも、はるかに凌駕するものです。 米国は国際法および人道の根本原則を無視して、すでに広範囲にわたって日本の大都市に対して、無差別爆撃を実施しています。 多数の老幼婦女子を殺傷しています。 神社や仏閣、学校や病院、一般の民家などを倒壊または焼失させています。 そしてさらにいま、新奇にして、かつ従来のいかなる兵器、投射物とも比べ物にならない無差別性、惨虐性をもつ本件爆弾を使用したのです。 これは、人類文化に対する新たな罪悪です。 日本政府は、ここに自からの名において、かつまた、全人類、および文明の名において、米国政府を糾弾します。 そして即時、かかる非人道的兵器の使用を放棄すべきことを厳重に要求します。 昭和２０年８月１１日