Spanish court rules for Tibetan victims of Chinese genocide

Spanish court rules for Tibetan victims of Chinese genocide November 19, 2013

Spain’s National Court has issued arrest warrants for former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (b. 1926), former prime minister Li Peng (b. 1928), former security chief Qiao Shi (b. 1924), former Communist Party official Chen Kuiyuan (b. 1941) and former family planning minister Pen Peiyun (b. 1929), “on suspicion of involvement in alleged genocide in Tibet,” reports Voice of America.

It may be just a symbolic victory, as these former leaders are aging and unlikely to find themselves in Spain (or anywhere outside of China or strongly allied nations) any time soon. However, the implications are clear enough. One nation at least is willing to hear the grievances of its citizens who have been affected by China’s actions in Tibet. Spain is able to do this because the nation allows “its courts to prosecute alleged war crimes and genocide committed anywhere, provided the victims include Spanish citizens,” and “One of the co-plaintiffs is a Tibetan Buddhist monk with Spanish citizenship, Thubten Wangchen.”

Read the full story here.

Spanish-speakers might enjoy this video featuring the Ven. Thubten Wangchen, a monk in the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism:

I think they’re marveling about his bald head (“do all Buddhists shave their head?”  and then they, naturally, talk football…)


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