Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

soldiers from civilians. Again, this is a universally accepted in military history. Mostrecently, American troops conducted similar operations during the war in Iraq.Investigation of five to sixthousand Chinese regular soldierswho attempted their escape byblending among the refugeesinside the city walls.”Mainichi-ban shina jihen gahō,no. 14, 21 December 1937, p. 23.In the course of the “mop-up” operation, the Japanese screened out a number ofChinese soldiers, whose status as combatants was determined to be illegal. Anundeniable fact is that on the Yangzi shore the Japanese military executed severalthousand of those who were rebellious. The question is whether or not the executionconducted by the Japanese army was legally justifiable.Legitimate combatants who have become prisoners of war (POW) are under theprotection of international conventions which govern their treatment. They are immunefrom capital punishment unless they violate laws or regulations. Killing of such POWswithout legitimate cause would indeed constitute an unlawful “massacre.”Those former Chinese soldiers who were arrested in the safety zone, however,were not entitled to the privileges as POWs because they did not meet any of the fourqualifications of belligerents as stipulated in the Hague convention of 1907. These fourqualifications were:1. To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;2. To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance;3. To carry arms openly; and4. To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.Those who did not satisfy these qualifications were deemed to be illegitimate combatantsand are not eligible for the protection under the international law. This principle is stillupheld in the 1949 Geneva Convention on the treatment of POWs.It is meaningful here to quote a U.S. government’s statement with respect to itstreatment of Al-Qaeda and Taliban warriors who were detained at the U.S. military basein Guantanamo, Cuba. Defense Secretary Ronald H. Rumsfeld said the following in theDefense Department’s news briefing on February 8, 2002 (DoD News) ;29