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ESPAÑA
INVESTIGARÁ GENOCIDIO CHINO EN EL TÍBET
LA
CRONICA DE HOY
Miércoles 11 de Enero
de 2006
La Justicia española se declaró competente para investigar el
supuesto
genocidio perpetrado por el gobierno chino en el Tíbet durante las
décadas de los ochenta y los noventa, ante la imposibilidad de que
pueda ser investigado por tribunales chinos o por el Tribunal Penal
Internacional, informaron ayer fuentes jurídicas.
Así
lo acordó la Audiencia Nacional en un auto en el que acoge la
querella del Comité de Apoyo al Tíbet (CAT), que implica a siete
dirigentes chinos, entre ellos el ex presidente Jiang Zemin. Según el
tribunal español, de los datos descritos en la querella presentada por
el CAT se desprende que los hechos pueden constituir un delito de
genocidio que debe ser investigado.
La
competencia de la Audiencia Nacional para investigar se basa en
"los postulados y principios" del Tribunal Constitucional, que
estableció la jurisdicción española en este tipo de delitos
aunque no
haya víctimas de esa nacionalidad.
La
jurisdicción española está avalada en este caso, explica
el auto,
por la "inoperancia de la jurisdicción china" en la investigación
de
la presunta represión denunciada.
IMPEDIMENTO.
Añade que tampoco puede actuar la Corte Penal
Internacional porque se trata de hechos anteriores a su entrada en
vigor y ni China, ni el Tibet han suscrito el Estatuto de creación de
dicho Tribunal.
La
Audiencia Nacional recuerda la primera resolución de Naciones
Unidas de 1961 en la que reconocía el derecho de autodeterminación
del
pueblo tibetano, pero añade que con esta resolución no cesó
"el
sometimiento del Tíbet y las prácticas genocidas", por lo
que en 1965
se volvió a dictar otra resolución de similar contenido.
Otro
"intento de salir de la desesperada situación por la que
atravesaba el Tíbet", dice el auto, ha sido "el continuo llamamiento
de gobiernos y organizaciones internacionales" como la efectuada por
el Parlamento Europeo en 1989, denunciando las "excesivas"
demostraciones de fuerza de la seguridad china.
En
parecidos términos, prosigue el tribunal, se pronunciaron en su
momento el Congreso y el Senado de Estados Unidos o los parlamentos
italiano y alemán, entre otras instituciones.
Estas
decisiones de los distintos órganos internacionales llevan a la
Audiencia Nacional a deducir que los hechos denunciados pueden ser
constitutivos de este delito al amparo del artículo 2 del Convenio
internacional sobre Genocidio en lo que se refiere "al sometimiento
intencional del grupo a condiciones de existencia que puedan acarrear
su destrucción física, total o parcial".
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(English text)
SPANISH COURT INVESTIGATING CHINA'S GENOCIDE IN TIBET
The Spanish High Court will investigate seven Chinese officials, including former heads of state Jiang Zemin and Li Peng, on charges of genocide inside Tibet.
SPAIN'S High Court will investigate whether seven former Chinese leaders committed
genocide in Tibet, after Madrid's top court ruled Spanish courts could try genocide
cases even if they did not involve Spaniards.
The criminal suit, filed by three Tibet support groups, was thrown out last
September by a lower court but shortly afterwards Spain's Constitutional Court
made the ruling on foreign genocide cases and the groups appealed.
The High Court said in an official document overnight it would investigate the
genocide accusations against former President Jiang Zemin, former Prime Minister
Li Peng, former party chiefs in Tibet Ren Rong, Yin Fatang and Chen Kuiyan,
former security chief Qiao Shi and former Family Planning Minister Deng Delyun.
The
case accuses the top officials, who were in office during the 1970s, 1980s and
1990s, of authorizing massacres and torture in Tibet. The court could call for
Chinese authorities to arrest those accused and even impound their property.
No
one at the Chinese embassy in Madrid was available to comment on the suit.
"We have been working for almost nine years to do this well to present
all the evidence properly and in line with the law and we are ... very happy
and excited that this first path towards justice in Tibet is opening up,"
Alan Cantos, Spanish president of the Tibet Support Committee, said on state
radio.Spain's laws of universal jurisdiction for genocide, war crimes, and crimes
against humanity now applies even in cases where Spanish citizens are not harmed.
The law is a remarkable example of the possibilities for universalizing human
rights protections through the rule of law. Not just unenforceable international
laws, but the laws of a country with a strong judiciary and a government to
implement their rulings.
If
Jiang Zemin, Li Peng and the other Chinese officials are indicted by the Spanish
High Court, they will be subject to arrest if they enter Spain or any country
that has an extradition treaty with Spain.
One
of my sources, an expert in Spanish law, says this would include almost any
Western country. Countries that do not have universal jurisdiction but do have
extradition agreements would be under even more pressure to comply with any
requests by a Spanish judge to have a suspect extradited to Spain. It is not
clear, though, the extent to
which countries would be willing to do this. In the past Argentina, Guatemala,
Chile, Mexico, Belgium, and the United Kingdom have demonstrated their willingness
to extradite suspects under Spains universal jurisdiction laws.
This case presents an opportunity for the Tibetan people to receive at least
a modicum of justice. The Chinese government and these officials in particular
needs to be held accountable for the million plus Tibetans dead as a result
of China's occupation of Tibet, for the destruction of over 6,000 monasteries,
and the systematic repression of Tibetan culture. The indictment and eventual
commitment of the Chinese leaders who were both architects and orchestrators
of China's genocide inside Tibet would be a small step in the right direction
of restoring Tibetan statehood. China cannot expect to be treated as a member
of the respected international community as long as it harbors those responsible
for Tibetan genocide.
It
should also be noted that Spain's continued effort to root out and bring to
justice those responsible for the great crimes of the twentieth century. The
perpetrators of genocide and war crimes should have no safe harbor in a modern,
liberal world. Spain succeeded in convicting Augusto Pinochet for crimes against
humanity. Hopefully they'll also succeed in bringing Jiang Zemin and Li Peng
to justice. The world will be a better place if they do.
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* Friends of Tibet ha entrado en una nueva etapa iniciando un nuevo concepto: Friends of Tibet: Global, que consiste en nuevos grupos de apoyo a la causa de Tibet en India, Uruguay, Sri Lanka y Espaņa. La meta es informar y educar sobre la causa de Tibet en todas partes del mundo.
