Australian Attorney: Jiang Zemin Could Not Be Absolved If His Crimes against Humanity Are Proven

A Spanish Court recently indicted five high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, including former Communist Party head Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan, Bo Xilai, Jia Qinglin and Wu Guanzheng on charges of genocide and torture of Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. John Greenwell, member of Amnesty International and a retired attorney who lives in Canberra, Australia, recently gave an interview on the topic.

Mr. John Greenwell, retired attorney and member of Amnesty International

Mr. Greenwell said, "The suit against Jiang Zemin is instituted in a Spanish court. He is accused of crimes against humanity. They are a specific series of crimes under international law first developed in the trials of Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg and since been developed by various international conventions.

He continued, "Ordinarily, jurisdiction of states is confined to action or crimes committed in their territory. But in the case of international crimes under international law, the jurisdiction is universal. That means jurisdiction can be entertained against the person wherever found and wherever the crime was committed.

"So in this case the fact that the crimes were committed, if proved, in China, would not mean that Jiang Zemin could be absolved. Of course the Spanish courts will only take effect if they can get him within the jurisdiction and the territory of their state and that's where things stand."

He gave an example of Chilean General Augusto Pinochet. He said, "We are reaching a stage where heads of state can't assume that by virtue of the fact that they are heads of state that they won't be subject to criminal law. The international criminal court is trying to apprehend al-Bashir, who is the President of Sudan, for crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur. He is now careful about what countries he goes to. And I think Jiang Zemin should be careful about going to Madrid."