Argentina: judge orders arrest of Franco-era officials accused of torture

[Judi Lynn]

Source: EuroNews

Argentina: judge orders arrest of Franco-era officials accused of torture
20/09 02:15 CET

~ Video at link ~

Relatives of victims of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco’s rule celebrated on the streets of Buenos Aires after an Argentine judge ordered the arrest of four men accused of torture.

Judge Maria Servini de Cubria issued the ruling in order to obtain a recorded statement from the accused: former bodyguard to Franco and brigade inspector Celso Galvan Abascal; former police commissioner Jose Ignacio Giralte Gonzalez; former captain of the Civil Guard Jesus Munecas Aguilar; and former police officer Juan Antonio Gonzalez Pancheco.

Lawyer Carlos Slepoy, who represented the families said it was a step towards ending impunity for members of Franco’s government, explaining: “Those accused in this case can now be detained anywhere in the world, which basically guarantees that if they leave Spain they will be detained by Interpol and extradition will follow.”

If the accused remain in Spain they may never be arrested. There, the country’s 1977 Amnesty Law, which shields any Franco-era crime from being brought to trial, remains in force.

Read more: http://www.euronews.com/2013/09/20/argentina-judge-orders-arrest-of-franco-era-officials-accused-of-torture/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Argentinian judge orders arrest of Franco era ‘torturers’

Argentinian judge orders arrest of Franco era ‘torturers’

Order seeks extradition of four men from Spain for alleged human rights abuses

Fri, Sep 20, 2013, 01:00
First published:Fri, Sep 20, 2013, 01:00

A judge in Argentina has ordered the arrest of four men in Spain for alleged human rights abuses committed during the 1939-75 dictatorship of Francisco Franco. The order, which ultimately seeks the men’s extradition to Argentina, reopens a politically sensitive case which Spain itself has chosen not to pursue.

Judge María Servini de Cubría’s decision, announced on Wednesday, makes Argentina the only country in the world to investigate the crimes of the Franco era.

It follows a campaign started in 2010 by 170 individuals and organisations representing victims of Franco to persuade Argentina’s justice system to pursue the case in light of the Spanish judiciary’s reluctance to.

Judge Servini de Cubría’s willingness to take up the investigation adheres to the principle of “universal justice”, which ignores national boundaries and means a magistrate from any country can take up a judicial probe into crimes against humanity.

Historians estimate that Franco’s forces killed over 100,000 civilians during the 1936-39 civil war and its aftermath.

More:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/argentinian-judge-orders-arrest-of-franco-era-torturers-1.1533736