Spanish Court Hears Testimony from Tibet monks in Genocide Case
AFP
May 20, 2008
MADRID (AFP) -- A Spanish court hearing a genocide case against seven top Chinese leaders, including former president Jiang Zemin and former prime minister Li Peng, heard testimony on Monday from three Tibetan monks.
Judge Ismael Moreno of the National Audience, Spain's highest criminal court, questioned Palden Gyatso, Janpel Monlam and Bhagdro who spent time in prison in China for their "counter-revolutionary activities" in Tibet.
Since June, 2006, the court has been hearing the case against the seven Chinese leaders for torture and crimes against humanity as well as genocide allegedly carried out in Tibet during the 1980s.
The case followed a complaint from the Barcelona-based Tibet House foundation and the non-governmental organization Tibet Support Committee.
In October 2005, the Spanish judiciary adopted the principle of "universal competence", which means Spanish courts can hear cases of genocide and crimes against humanity wherever they occur and whatever the nationality of the defendant.
"Tibet is under Chinese dictatorship," the director of the Tibet House, Thubten Wangchen, an exiled Tibetan who is now a Spanish citizen told reporters as he accompanied the three monks to court.
"Our hope is to spark a dialogue between the Dalai Lama and (Chinese President) Hu Jintao," he said, adding he hoped the United Nations would "not shut up" about Chinese repression in Tibet.
The three monks have all said they were tortured while in jail in China.
Gyatso was arrested in 1959 for organising demonstrations by a group of monks and spent 33 years in prison. He wrote a book, "Fire Under the Snow" which documents his experiences in prison and forced labour.
China has condemned the accusations of genocide in Tibet as slander and it has accused Madrid of trying to interfere in its administration of the Himalayan region.