Spanish Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Ex-Chinese President

Spain’s National Court has issued an international arrest warrant for China’s former president Jiang Zemin, after it ruled that the Chinese leader may have been responsible for “genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and terrorism” against Tibetans during the 1980s and 1990s.

Spain’s National Court has issued an international arrest warrant for China’s former president Jiang Zemin, after it ruled that the Chinese leader may have been responsible for “genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and terrorism” against Tibetans during the 1980s and 1990s.

The case was reportedly brought to the court in 2006 by two Tibetan support groups and a monk with Spanish nationality, utilising a principle in Spanish law known as universal jurisdiction – whereby suspects of human rights abuses committed abroad can be tried when a Spanish victim is involved.

The National Court wrote in a ruling released on Tuesday that there were “indications of participation” by Jiang and four other Chinese officials in the alleged crimes, “given the political or military responsibility” they held at the time.

International human rights and pro-Tibetan groups have long criticised Beijing for what they call oppressive policies in Tibetan regions, where more than 100 monks and laymen have self-immolated in protest of Beijing’s rule. Beijing has argued that it has poured huge investments into the region to lift Tibetans out of poverty and have accused exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of inciting dissent to split Tibet from China.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei described the arrest warrants as “preposterous” and warned Spain against causing “severe damage” to bilateral relations.

“China’s position on Tibet-related issues is consistent and clear, and the West understands it,” said Hong, as cited by Al Jazeera.

“Tibet separatists have repeatedly, by spreading rumours and slander and making false accusations, attacked the Chinese government to harm bilateral relations between China and relevant countries. Such means are doomed to fail,” he added at a daily press briefing on Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

[quote]”If the relevant reports are right, then China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to relevant agencies in Spain,” he said.[/quote]

The four other defendants include former Chinese Premier Li Peng, China’s former state security chief Qiao Shi; the Communist Party’s leader in Tibet at the time, Chen Kuiyan; and Peng Pelyun, minister for family planning in the 1980s.

The Spanish court has also agreed to investigate a charge of repression in Tibet brought against China’s most recent ex-president Hu Jintao, who left office last year.

The accused are thought unlikely to ever stand trial, with the arrest warrants serving a largely symbolic purpose, noted WSJ. Spanish courts are renowned for their penchant to aggressively pursue international human rights cases, the report said, adding that while the courts has won plaudits from rights activists, they have gained the disdain of some foreign governments, and even Spain’s own diplomatic corps.

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In 1998 for instance, Spanish investigative judge Baltasar Garzón ordered the arrest in London of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was detained there for a year and a half before being released. Spanish courts have also been involved in other human-rights cases from Rwanda to Iraq.

The Spanish government, frustrated by the diplomatic problems that its judges were causing, tried to limit their reach by imposing a requirement that there must be a clear Spanish connection for local courts to get involved. The latest case though fits the requirement as one of the plaintiffs, Tibet-born Thubten Wangchen Sherpa Sherpa, is a naturalised Spanish citizen.