A Tibetan human rights group has asked Spain's High Court to file criminal charges against top Chinese officials for genocide and crimes against humanity, citing Spanish laws that allow prosecution of crimes committed in other countries.
A complaint filed by the Madrid-based Committee to Support Tibet accuses former president Jiang Zemin (1990 to 2003), former prime minister Li Peng (1988 to 1998) and five other Chinese officials of authorizing massacres and torture in Tibet.
The group says more than one million Tibetans have been killed or gone missing since China invaded Tibet in 1949 and then annexed it 1951.
Spain's National Court adopted the principle of universal jurisdiction in 1998 and now takes a leading role in prosecuting international human rights crimes. One of the Tibetan monks filing the case has been living in exile in Spain and holds Spanish citizenship.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.