China pressuring Spain on human rights case, says Tibetan monk
Tibetan monk behind legal moves in Spain to bring charges against former Chinese leaders under 'universal jurisdiction' principle, says Beijing is behind attempts to change the law
A Tibetan monk who pushed a human rights case against former Chinese leaders through Spanish courts accused China on Tuesday of pressuring Madrid to change the law that made the complaint possible.
Thubten Wangchen, a member of the exiled Tibetan parliament, said Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government had moved to limit the use of “universal jurisdiction”, which allows judges to try certain cases of human rights abuses committed in other countries, only to appease China.
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 opened into alleged genocide in Tibet under this doctrine.
Thubten, a Spanish citizen who was born in Tibet in 1954 but exiled with his family when he was a child, brought the case in a Spanish court in 2006 along with two Tibetan support groups.
“If Spanish government changes the law at the request of China then that means it is China which is in charge in Spain.”
China, a significant economic partner of Spain, reacted angrily to the judge’s move, saying it was “strongly dissatisfied”.
Thubten said Spain’s ruling conservative Popular Party “was listening and supporting the Chinese government and this is why it is reforming the law”.