TOKYO, June 25, 1998 (AFP) - Lawyers on Thursday protested an entry
ban imposed by the United States and Canada on two Japanese World
War II veterans, now turned peace activists, who took part in
atrocities in China.

The United States and Canada denied the entry of Yoshio
Shinozuka, 74, and Shiro Azuma, 86, citing their role in notorious
wartime biological experiments, lawyer Tadanori Onitsuka told a news
conference.
   "Their entry was denied on the ground of 'crimes against
humanity,'" said Onitsuka, member of a team representing 108 Chinese
people, including victims and relatives, who are demanding Japanese
reparations.
   "The decision was wrong and unfair and they don't understand the
very purpose of a trip," Onitsuka said.
   The two Japanese veterans are now both committed peace activists
who tour Japan and other nations including China speaking about the
atrocities committed by Japan during the war.
 
The bans by Canada and the United States were received in
separate notices Monday, just four days before the pair were to
leave Thursday for a two-week lecture tour.

Azuma made a last-minute cancellation for health reasons but
Shinozuka left for Canada despite the ban.
"I don't know what the Canadian authority will do with him,"
said another member of the legal team, Koken Tsuchiya.
"I hope the US and Canadian authorities will not take away his
last chance to speak on the Japanese role during World War II,"
Tsuchiya said.

They had been scheduled to join Iris Chang, American author of
best-selling book of "The Rape of Nanjing," for a panel discussion
in New York.

Shinozuka admitted he had been part of Unit 731, a notorious
germ warfare unit that conducted biological experiments on prisoners
in China. He had been suspected of cultivating plague bacilli, but
was not charged.

Azuma maintains he worked for the Japanese military but was not
a member of the germ unit. In 1996, the US Justic Department drew up a
"watchlist" that included the names of Japanese war criminals.