China has asked Madrid to take steps to ensure that a Spanish court drops its probe into a crackdown on unrest that erupted in Tibet against Chinese rule in March last year, a court document showed on Monday.
In a document sent by Chinese authorities to the Spanish National Court, which was released on Monday, Beijing officials turned down a request by a judge to question eight Chinese leaders, including Defense Minister Liang Guanglie (梁光烈), as part of the probe.
In the document, the Chinese authorities called on the Spanish government to take “immediate and effective steps to prevent any abusive use of a mutual justice cooperation agreement and close as soon as possible this inquiry.”
A Tibetan rights group, the Tibet Support Committee, filed the suit against the Chinese leaders last July, calling the crackdown on the unrest “crimes against humanity.”
It was accepted by the National Court the following month, just days before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.
Unrest in Tibet erupted on March 14 last year after four days of peaceful protests against Chinese rule.
The Tibetan government-in-exile says 203 Tibetans were killed and about 1,000 hurt in China’s crackdown. Beijing insists that only one Tibetan was killed and has accused “rioters” of killing 21 people.
The crackdown sparked international protests that dogged the month-long global journey of the Olympic torch in April.
Spain has since 2005 operated under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” a doctrine that allows courts to reach beyond national borders in cases of torture, terrorism or war crimes.
Last week the National Court closed a probe targeting Israeli officials for alleged crimes against humanity over a deadly 2002 air raid in Gaza that was accepted under this principle.
In that case the court said it was following the recommendations of prosecutors in deciding to close the case.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS