10. Jan 2006
Spanish court to probe Tibet genocide suit
(CAT, Reuters) Spain's High Court will investigate whether seven former Chinese leaders committed genocide in Tibet, after Madrid's top court ruled Spanish courts could try genocide cases even if they did not involve Spaniards. The criminal suit, filed by three Tibet support groups, was thrown out in September 2005 by a lower court but shortly afterwards Spain's Constitutional Court made the ruling on foreign genocide cases and the groups appealed. The High Court released an official statement saying that it would investigate the genocide accusations against former President Jiang Zemin, former Prime Minister, Li Peng, former party chiefs in Tibet, Ren Rong, Yin Fatang and Chen Kuiyan, former security chief, Qiao Shi and former Family Planning Minister Deng Delyun. The case accuses the top officials, who were in office during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, of authorising massacres and torture in Tibet. The court could call for Chinese authorities to arrest those accused and impound their property. Speaking shortly after the court's decision, Mr. Alan Cantos, CAT Coordinator, said: "We are very happy that this first step towards justice for the Tibetan people has taken place. It is a historic precedent, especially for the victims in Tibet, both past and present, on whose behalf this lawsuit has been submitted, and to whom we pay homage on this historic day". No one at the Chinese embassy in Madrid was prepared to comment on the suit.