07/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 5 October, the Spanish justice system said it was competent for cases of genocide and crimes against humanity committed outside Spain against victims of any nationality because the principle of universal jurisdiction is more important than whether there are national interests, explained the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal in response to a case of alleged genocide against the military junta in Guatemala (1978-1986). In its ruling the Spanish court validated the arguments put forward by 1992 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Rigoberta Menchu and human rights organisations that Spain should investigate crimes of genocide, torture, assassination and illegal detention committed in Guatemala between 1978 and 1986, to which some 200,000 people are reported to have been victim. In 2003, Belgium was forced to restrict the scope of the universal competence of Belgian courts under pressure from the United States (see EUROPE 8518).