Spanish judge orders arrest of China's former president Jiang Zemin
Judge seeks arrest of Jiang and four others for alleged genocide in Tibet under 'universal jurisdiction' doctrine that allows prosecution of human rights cases which took place outside Spain
A Spanish judge on Monday sought international arrest warrants for former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and four other top Chinese officials as part of a probe into alleged genocide in Tibet.
High Court Judge Ismael Moreno ordered Interpol to issue the arrest warrants for the five for genocide, torture and crimes against humanity as part of a case brought against them in Spain by human rights groups.
“Jiang exercised supervisory authority over the people who directly committed abuses, which makes him responsible for acts of torture and other major abuses of human rights perpetrated by his subordinates against the people of Tibet,” Moreno wrote in his ruling.
“He promoted and actively implemented policies whose objective was to populate the Autonomous Region of Tibet with a majority from the Han ethnic group, detain thousands of Tibetans during lengthy periods, torture the detained and submit them to other illegal abuses.”
“Jiang exercised supervisory authority over the people who directly committed abuses.”
In addition to Jiang, the judge ordered the arrest of former prime minister Li Peng; former security and police chief Qiao Shi; Chen Kuiyan, a former Communist Party official in Tibet; and Peng Pelyun, a former family planning minister.
The High Court in November said it had accepted arguments from Spanish pro-Tibet human rights groups that international reports indicate that the five men may have had a role in human rights abuses and should be questioned.