Events

In Khabarovsk, the international scientific and practical forum on the legacy of the Khabarovsk process, the role and importance of the Soviet Union in solving the problems of global security in the postwar world has opened. This forum has become another significant expert platform to discuss the preservation of historical memory about the Second World War, the principle of inevitability of punishment for war criminals and spiritual-patriotic education of young people. The event, organized with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund, is attended by 1200 people, including: representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian justice, professors of major Russian universities, representatives of public organizations, figures of culture and education of the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of government agencies and public institutions of foreign countries: the Republic of Belarus, Israel, Japan, People's Republic of China, South Korea, India.

The Khabarovsk process took place from December 25 to December 30, 1949, and had a significant impact on the development of international humanitarian law and global security, laying the groundwork for the international prohibition and elimination of bacteriological (biological) weapons. This trial became a symbol of punishment for inhumanity and ruthless experiments on human beings.

Opening the Forum, Sergei Gennadyevich Novikov, head of the Presidential Department for Public Projects, read out a greeting from the President of the Russian Federation. The message noted that the Khabarovsk trial of Japanese war criminals, as well as the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, "passed a legal and moral sentence on those who unleashed World War II, who were guilty of terrible crimes against humanity.

The moderator of the plenary session, Senator of the International Association of Prosecutors and Historian, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation Alexander Grigoryevich Zvyagintsev emphasized that "the Far East is a point of historical memory, which they wanted to take away from us. It was about destroying Soviet culture, about eliminating the people living there. The efforts of the Red Army prevented this from happening. The Khabarovsk trial became an expression of the Soviet Union's principled position in regard to the developers of bacteriological weapons and their use", Alexander Grigorievich pointed out.

One of the speakers at the plenary session was Alexander Vyacheslavovich Fedorov, Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, who recalled the work carried out by the agency to establish all the circumstances of crimes against humanity committed by Nazi invaders and their accomplices in the occupied Soviet territories during the Great Patriotic War. In his speech he noted that the legal assessment of the events of the Nuremberg, Tokyo and Khabarovsk trials is still relevant. As Alexander Vyacheslavovich emphasized, the history of Japanese army units requires detailed study. "Not all materials have yet been introduced into science. In our opinion, it is necessary to issue a modern publication on the Khabarovsk trial and name not only the victims, but also the executioners. War crimes and crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations. All those involved in inhumane acts must be identified. Only 12 people were brought to trial in Khabarovsk, while the majority of those who committed these crimes, members of bacteriological units, including units 731 and 100 of the Japanese Kwantung Army, consisting of over 4,000 in total, including the leadership, were protected from prosecution by the United States", he said. Alexander Vyacheslavovich added that the Investigative Committee of Russia has all the legal and moral grounds to carry out the same work with regard to Japanese criminals who committed crimes during World War II. And this will be a warning to those who even today harbor biological warfare ideas. 

During the first plenary session the Chairman of the Russian Historical Society Sergey Naryshkin, the executive secretary of Public Movement "Search movement of Russia" Elena Tsunayeva and representatives of state structures and public organizations also presented their speeches. Speakers of the event also stressed the historical significance of the events of those years, the need to comprehend them and the inadmissibility of distorting the recorded facts. In particular, Alexei Chekunov, Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, emphasized the importance of reflecting on the past. Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education, noted that facts such as the Khabarovsk process are very important and should be a part of the educational process. Aleksei Vladimirovich Vasiliev, Head of the Directorate for Registration of Archive Funds of the FSB of Russia, told about the main stages of the Khabarovsk process and about the plans of militaristic Japan and the Kwantung Army to invade the USSR by using bacteriological weapons and mass extermination of both the military and the civilian population. 

In addition, there was a presentation of a collection of archival documents collected as part of the project "Without Statute of Limitations.

The delegation of the Investigative Committee of Russia also visited the place where the Khabarovsk trial took place - the House of Officers of the Eastern Military District of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (formerly the House of Officers of the Soviet Army). It hosts a large-scale exhibition devoted to the historical event.

The forum will continue its work on September 7 on 8 thematic sites. One of them, entitled "Khabarovsk process in the system of national and international law" is organized by the Investigative Committee of Russia together with the Union of Lawyers of Russia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, Khabarovsk State University of Economics and Law. Key questions to be discussed: How to prevent the recurrence of such crimes? What legal mechanisms protect people today against torture, covert experiments on human health? What are the challenges facing humanity and how to preserve the civilized world? Alexander Vyacheslavovich Fyodorov and Sergey Vasilyevich Petrov, head of the Educational Outreach Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia, will give their speeches. The framework of the site will consist of several sections moderated by Alexander Grigorievich Zvyagintsev. In addition, in terms of a separate block the employees of the Central Office of the Investigative Committee of Russia and representatives of departmental educational institutions will cover the work being done in the field of strengthening the patriotic spirit of young people, instilling in them the right guidelines for life.

Also during these days the cinemas in Khabarovsk are showing a documentary about the work of investigators of the Investigative Committee to investigate crimes committed by Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War - "Without Statute of Limitations. Until the Last Name is Found...", produced by the Patriot National Film Fund Ltd. with the assistance of the Investigative Committee of Russia.