In Search of Justice: Testifying on Tibet in Madrid
Late afternoon in the Plaza Mayor, Madrid, and in this grand square of old Europe there is a woman dressed as a banana with a hat of apples, two off-duty toreadors, a flamenco dancer and a white rabbit selling balloons. Together with two Tibetan friends, I’m taking a break for café con leche in the Spanish capital after giving evidence against the Chinese government in Spain’s top Criminal Court in a case that could possibly lead to arrest warrants being served to several Chinese leaders for policies on Tibet.
The three of us have been summoned as witnesses in a unique lawsuit under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” a doctrine that allows courts to reach beyond national borders in cases of torture, terrorism or war crimes. It is a case that is causing some disquiet in Beijing, and with good reason.
Cases of universal jurisdiction have been pursued in Spain with vigor ever since a group of progressive Spanish lawyers put together a lawsuit against Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who presided over a 17-year reign of terror and ordered foreign assassinations. Pinochet’s arrest in London in 1998 was the result of a year-long struggle by Madrid judge Baltasar Garzón to bring Pinochet to account for the brutality that followed his overthrow of the government of Salvador Allende. Pinochet, who died in 2006, was subsequently released by the UK “on humanitarian grounds” as a last resort political decision and allowed to travel back to Chile, but British law had by then agreed to his extradition to face trial in Spain and the precedent had been set. It was the first time that several European judges applied the principle of universal jurisdiction, declaring themselves competent to judge crimes committed by former head of states, despite local amnesty laws.
I met Baltasar Garzón, who has followed the Tibet lawsuit with interest, in the corridors of the High Court in a week of controversy and political wrangling over a Spanish criminal investigation into torture at Abu Ghraib, Bagram prison (in Afghanistan) and Guantanamo. On Wednesday (April 29), Garzon opened an investigation into the Bush administration over alleged torture of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay; he said documents declassified by the new U.S. government suggest the practice was systematic.
The two Tibet lawsuits being heard in the Spanish court at present are the result of years of dedication and relentless hard work by Jose Elias Esteve Molto, a Professor of International Law at the University of Valencia, and Alan Cantos of the Spanish Tibet Support Committee (CAT), a research scientist in oceanography for more than 15 years.
Alan explains: “We wanted to explore the many mechanisms for making the Chinese leadership accountable and seeking justice for the Tibetan people that exist through the mechanisms of international law. The beauty of the process is that it is nothing to do with politics – in a healthy democracy there is a separation of the government from the judicial process.”
Alan and Jose, representing the Tibet Support Committee of Spain (CAT) and Fundacion Casa Del Tibet, Barcelona, filed a second lawsuit on July 9 last year against eight Chinese leaders, including Tibet Autonomous Region Party Secretary Zhang Qingli, known for his hardline rhetoric against the Dalai Lama and his zealous implementation of patriotic education. As with the previous lawsuit, they were informed that the judge had recognised the crimes and accepted their second lawsuit dealing with the period of Hu Jintao’s Presidency – three days before the opening of the Beijing Olympics last August. Their first lawsuit, which is still ongoing, deals with the past 50 years of China’s rule over Tibet. The defendants of this lawsuit include the former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, former Prime Minister Li Peng, and three former Party Secretaries of the Tibet Autonomous Region Ren Rong, Yin Fatang and Chen Kuiyuan.
In Madrid last week, former political prisoner Tagna Jigme Zangpo gave testimony on his 32 years of torture and imprisonment in one courtroom, while I answered questions from Judge Santiago Pedraz on the extent of the Chinese crackdown since March 2008 in another.
Many unusual encounters take place in the corridors of Spain’s Audencia Nationale. Once, when Tibetan monk and former political prisoner Palden Gyatso was on the way to the courtroom to give evidence, two burly and handcuffed ETA terrorists in the custody of a posse of armed police noticed him, and made gestures of support for a free Tibet and for the Basques.
Judge Santiago Pedraz is thorough and he listens carefully. The Spanish interpreter tells me afterwards, “He is just as polite to hardened terrorists as he is to victims of torture. This is rare.” In June 2006, Judge Pedraz visited Guatemala after hearing evidence from witnesses to the effects of the Guatemalan army’s scorched earth operations on their communities in the early 1980s. Shortly after returning to Madrid, Judge Pedraz issued international arrest warrants for eight senior Guatemalan officials on July 7, 2006. In a historic move, the Guatemalan Courts responded by accepting the international warrants and arresting two of the eight defendants.
In the last few days, Alan and Jose have been informed that Judge Santiago Pedraz has issued a formal request through the Spanish Justice Ministry to travel to Tibet to visit prisons and sites of major protests and to investigate the situation for himself. Permission from the Indian government through the Spanish Justice Ministry and Interpol is also being sought in order for Judge Pedraz to interview witnesses to the crackdown of the past year in Dharamsala. If there is no response from Beijing to this application, the next step is for the judge to consider issuing an order for the seven Chinese leaders – the ‘defendants’ – named in the lawsuit to testify in the Spanish court.
Alan says: “It is not possible to pre-empt an outcome, but in the eventuality of a refusal by the leaders to testify, then any country that has an extradition treaty with Spain can and should arrest them if they are present in that country. This is an arrangement through Interpol, not through the host government.” Alan adds: “Everyone understands when a drug-traffickers on board a ship in international waters are arrested and tried, even when they are not in their own country. So why is it any more difficult to accept why people guilty of much more significant crimes against human beings cannot be made accountable through an international court?”
Both Tibet lawsuits were admitted under the principle of “universal jurisdiction”, under which Spanish courts can hear cases of genocide and crimes against humanity wherever they occur and whatever the nationality of the defendant. Jose Elias Esteve Molto stresses that while Spain has broken new ground in taking on such cases, any country can, and should, do so if enough diligent research based on knowledge of national and international law is carried out. “The excuse sometimes given is that the crime is not fully defined in national law. But international treaties signed by countries in the EU are elsewhere such as the Genocide Convention, the Committee against Torture, the Geneva Convention, or the Statute of Rome, recognize that crimes against human beings transcend national boundaries, and should then be prosecuted through national courts.”
As we leave the courtroom in Madrid, to be met by a cluster of Spanish press who want to interview Tagna Jigme Zangpo, Alan and Jose introduce me to a warm and vivid young Spanish woman, Dolores Delgado. She was the State Prosecutor for a famous case against a former Argentinian naval officer, Adolfo Scilingo, charged under Spain’s universal jurisdiction laws by investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzón with genocide, 30 counts of murder, 93 of causing injury, 255 of terrorism and 286 of torture. The murder charges related to 30 drugged political prisoners thrown out of government jets during Argentinian General Galtieri’s military junta’s campaign against leftist insurgents between 1976 and 1983. The outcome? Scilingo was sentenced to 640 years in prison. When he appealed, his sentence was
extended to 1084 years.
For Alan and Jose, the purpose of the Tibet lawsuits is not only to seek justice for the Tibetan people, but also to provide an opportunity for individual Tibetans who have undergone immeasurable suffering due to Chinese policies to bear witness. One young Tibetan man gave evidence to Judge Pedraz about his brother, who was beaten to death last May in Tibet. I asked him what it meant to him to be in Madrid, speaking directly to the judge about his story. “It means so much for me to be able to tell the judge about my brother,” he said. “The Chinese want to silence us as Tibetans. They don’t want anyone to know about the death of my brother and of other Tibetans in prison, and they don’t want to be called to account for their actions. So this court case is important because it is a step towards seeking accountability. Nothing can bring my brother back. But this is one thing I can do for him to speak about his life, to honor him.”
(Photo Caption: Alan Cantos, Jose Elias Esteve, Tagna Jigme Zangpo, witnesses, the court lawyer and Thubten Wangchen, head of Casa Tibet in Barcelona, after a court appearance last week.)
9 Responses to “In Search of Justice: Testifying on Tibet in Madrid”
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“The beauty of the process is that it is nothing to do with politics – in a healthy democracy there is a separation of the government from the judicial process.”
If it crosses international boundries it is political. It is a act of war! When the Chinese retaliate don’t say you weren’t warned.
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SUCH AWESOME NEWS!!… Such a strong JUSTICE procedure from SPAIN COURTS and determined Madrid judges against long dreadful Chinese dictatorship. International Justice has become meaningful after Chile, Argentina, Guatemala and now Tibet. VIVA ESPANA…
What ever will be the result, should it be justice at the end.
This is an amazing procedure in which culprits are testified and brings justice to the humanity where ever they are. I salute Spanish court for the great humanitarian work they have begun long time back and hope they keep on bringing rats out of holes…chase them and penalize at the end for the crime they committed!
May peace, justice and freedom prevail long and wide!
Free Tibet,
Free World,
Bravissimo, Espana! Now let’s see some U.S. Prosecutor use “universal jurisdiction” to prosecute Bush & Co. for mass murder, as suggested by famed former Manson Family prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in his book “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder” http://www.amazon.com/Prosecution-George-W-Bush-Murder/dp/159315481X It will make your career!
This sounds like a wonderful way to get around the diplomatic hurdles of borders, but wonder if it will suffer the same fate as that of prosecuting American war criminals.
We need to consider that, ultimately the Chinese government has the power to do whatever they choose. As long as unconscionable reactionaries are in charge, Tibetans will suffer, as will anyone in China who doesn’t kao tao to the new emperors.
So, despite that little bit of concern, I will hope and pray for justice for all Tibetans, in our lifetimes.
Long Live His Holiness The Dalai Lama!
Long Live Tibet!
Our potential as human beings are immeasurable. Our deeds immense, our kindness overwhelming, may the Spanish courts be protected from influences of corruption and their minds focused on their task. Justice will prevail. They give us all hope and encouragement for a better future. May the victims and their families be at peace.
SUCH AWESOME NEWS!!… Such a strong JUSTICE procedure from SPAIN COURTS and determined Madrid judges against long dreadful Chinese dictatorship. International Justice has become meaningful after Chile, Argentina, Guatemala and now Tibet. VIVA ESPANA…