WHAT'S A LITTLE GENOCIDE WHEN YOU OFFER A BILLION CUSTOMERS?:

Spanish court looks at Tibetan genocide claims: The case is based on a legal principle under which a Belgian jury tried Rwandans. (Lisa Abend and Geoff Pingree, 3/02/06, The Christian Science Monitor)

Since the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have been killed, arbitrarily imprisoned, or forced to flee their country. But when the victims of what some call genocide finally get their day in court, it probably won't be in China. Instead, Spain - which is conducting a judicial investigation on the issue - is likely to hold the first trial.

Although Spain had no citizens affected by the suspected crimes, its National Court decided in January to investigate whether China did indeed commit genocide.