I beg leave to add that, in the belief of the Imperial Government,
conducts and practices of the Russian army, as stated in the
above-mentioned report, constitute grave offenses against stipulations
of the Geneva and Hague conventions, of which Russia is one of the
signatory powers; and it is with this belief in view that the Imperial
Government desire to bring the above to the notice of the United States
Government and invite their consideration thereof, so that the matter
may be made a subject of international discussion at such an opportunity
as might present itself in future.
[Inclosure—Translation.]
report of the commander in chief of the
saghalien army regarding violations and disregards by the
russian army of the laws and customs of war.
A considerable portion of Russian inhabitants of the island of
Saghalien consists of criminal exiles. It was from among these
undesirable inhabitants that the Russian Government recruited,
during last year, their volunteers for the defense of the island. As
a result thereof there were, since the time our (Japanese) army
landed on the island, numerous instances of disregard and violation
of the laws and customs of war on the part of Russians, not only as
an individual combatant, but even as an organized army. Their
conduct was also against the stipulations of the Geneva and Hague
conventions. Military operations of our army were on that account
greatly interrupted, and it encountered with no small amount of
difficulties in carrying out the rules of war. Of this irregular and
unlawful conduct of the Russian troops, in order to invite the
attention of the world and also to furnish references for future
discussion of the matter, certain conspicuous cases are specially
pointed out in the following report:
* * * * * * *
First. Use of dumdum bullets: On July 10, 1905, while engaged in the
occupation of Vladimirovka, our army captured from the enemy cavalry
rifles supplied with dumdum bullets. It is also clearly proved by
the report of the superintendent of our field hospital that on the
11th and 12th of the same month, during the engagement which took
place near Dalineye, and on the 22d, when scouts of both armies
encountered near Adradonye, the enemy used dumdum bullets.
Besides, a Japanese by the name of Sumita Kametaro, who was found a
prisoner among the Russians when the commander of the enemy
surrendered on the 16th of July, witnessed three or four Russians
carrying rifles to use dumdum bullets, while a considerable number
of dumdum bullets were found among the ammunition captured by our
army after the engagement near Dalineye.
Second. Abuse or improper use of the Red Cross flag and arm badge:
The Russian troops seemed as if they regarded the Red Cross emblem
as a necessary fighting instrument to prevent dangers from falling
on them, and the abuse they made thereof reached an inconceivable
extent.
[Page 622]
Our troops, while invading the headquarters of the enemy, found on
many occasions that the latter were displaying a number of Red Cross
flags on the roofs of houses which were not employed for the care of
the sick or wounded. In one instance, when our army attacked Rykoff,
the enemy hoisted a Red Cross flag on the top of an isolated house,
about 3,000 meters west of the place, where troops were sheltered
under its cover, and, setting machine guns close by the house, fired
at our troops. The similar treacherous conduct was repeated in
Novomihayloskoe, Onor, and other places.
Besides, there were numbers of Russian soldiers who abused the Red
Cross arm badge. On July 10, when our army occupied Vladimirovka, we
found that an excessively large number of persons were attached to
the eighteenth field hospital of the Russian army there. As it was
suspected that volunteers and other combatants were using the Red
Cross arm badge to escape danger an investigation was made and it
was discovered that there were regular combatants who were carrying
Red Cross arm badges. There is no doubt that in the Russian army the
use of the Red Cross arm badge was allowed for combatants, which
fact was also proved by confessions of Russian soldiers captured by
our army. It is also true that in more than one instance Russian
troops in their retreat left behind them certain number of
combatants wearing Red Cross arm badges and let them make an armed
resistance against the advance of our army.
Third. Irregular combatants without wearing uniforms: In spite of a
fixed emblem being provided for the Russian volunteers, a part of
the enemy’s force in the island of Saghalien had no emblem whatever,
and there were no means to distinguish them from the ordinary people
of the place. For instance, on July 10, when the occupation of
Vladimirovka was made, a company of the enemy, consisting of more
than 100 soldiers without wearing uniforms, assaulted our advance
company. Our company, however, with the assistance of another
company, succeeded in taking a large portion of the enemy’s soldiers
as prisoners. On investigation it was discovered that a great number
of volunteers, together with ordinary people who took up arms, were
among them. Again, on July 19 a scouting party led by Lieutenant
Watanabe (cavalry) was suddenly surrounded at a village called
Romanovskoe by Russian volunteers wearing the same clothes as
ordinary people and received considerable injury.
Evidently some of the enemy’s volunteers were not furnished with any
uniform from the outset, while others took off, in their retreat,
their emblems and concealed themselves among ordinary people. Owing
to such wanton disregard of uniform and emblems on the part of the
enemy, which made it impossible to distinguish combatants from
ordinary people, our army had great difficulty in conducting its
operations. Our army, however, with conscientious regard for the
laws of humanity, spared no effort to prevent superfluous injury of
war.
Fourth. Release of criminal prisoners and their violent conduct: On
our army having landed on the island of Saghalien the Russian army
released the criminal prisoners kept at Alexandrovsk and several
other places. These released prisoners entered upon a course of
lawlessness, and as a result the city of Alexandrovsk greatly
suffered. When our army occupied the city, as the looting was still
rampant there, we organized a guard and put the city under its
strict surveillance and protection. In spite of this fact the
Russian army circulated the scandalous rumor that the violent
disturbance of the city was caused by our army. But the fact that
the conduct of those released prisoners was extremely threatening is
indisputable, as admitted even by Russian officials and people at
Rykoff and other places, where on account of the occupation by our
army they escaped the injury of the released prisoners. It is
evident, therefore, that the Russian army purposely released the
prisoners and attempted to put the blame of their wanton conduct on
our army.
Fifth. Inhuman insults inflicted upon the dead and wounded: On the
morning of July 27 our cavalry scout was surrounded by Russian
troops at a place south of Rykoff and our commanding officer,
Lieutenant Watanabe, and five others were killed. From the fact that
on their dead bodies there were found more than ten rifle, cutting,
and stabbing wounds, and that particularly in the rifle wounds there
was powder gas, it is doubtless the Russian soldiers must have
either barbarously massacred the wounded or inflicted barbarous
insults on the dead. Such conduct is not only against the laws and
customs of war, but is a most wanton disregard of the laws of
humanity.
Sixth. Exhumation of the buried: In an engagement of August 2 near
Lake Tonnaicha Araya Kakusaburo, a soldier of the second grade,
belonging to the fifth company of our infantry régiment, was killed.
Our army buried the body of the killed in the wood near by and set a
post over the grave. Later, on August 10, when our army came back to
the same place after attacking the enemy’s force thereabouts, it was
suspected the grave of the buried had been opened. Subsequently the
soldier’s seal and pocket book, which had been buried with the
corpse, were discovered in a box containing the private effects of
one of the commanders of the enemy’s force. Thus it was confirmed
that the grave of our soldier who died an honorable death on the
field of battle had been opened by the enemy and the dead had been
robbed.
