Tibetan human rights NGO sues China for genocide

The Spanish national courts recently accepted a case brought by a Tibetan support group charging Chinese authorities with genocide in Tibet. A few months ago, the first Tibetan witness in that case testified of suffering and loss experienced in his homeland and in exile. Snip from an interview at openDemocracy with Tenzin Tsundue, one of the Tibetan witnesses testifying in the case, and the Spanish-based NGO that launched the proceedings:

Q. What is the purpose of the lawsuit?

The purpose of the lawsuit is to seek justice for fifty years of impunity and suffering that the Tibetan people have faced. We wish the full hand of justice to be dealt, we want there to be a fair, open and honest trial, and for those people who are found to be guilty for them to be sentenced and imprisoned for the crimes they have found to have committed.

Q. Who are those people?

There are seven Chinese officials in total. The leading two are Jiang Zemin, the former president of China, and Li Peng, the former prime minister.

Q. Do you have any realistic expectations that this case would result in the arrest and imprisonment of what are extremely powerful, prominent people?

There is a saying in Spanish that says the last thing you lose is hope, and on behalf of the Tibetan people and ourselves we believe that justice and truth to prevail at the end. We expect there to be a long road ahead but we go along that road with a firm conviction that justice will eventually be done and impunity against Chinese officials will be ended.

Q. And what would change if that were the case?

I think what will change is that the Tibetan victims who suffered themselves, either personally or through having to live in exile, will have a sense of justice. They will have felt for the first time in the history of exile the suffering that they've gone through has been recognised in a court procedure which they've yet to have experienced, and it's important for those victims to go through that process. Also we do believe that this could open up the truth of what's happened and possibly lead to better relations and understanding between ordinary Chinese and Tibetan people.

Link (Thanks, Oxblood Ruffin)