Amid pressure from Argentine court, Spain digs up Franco-era graves.

[forest444]

Spanish activists dug up a mass grave yesterday in a search for victims of the country’s civil war and the fascist dictatorship it put in place, as an Argentine court presses Spain to confront its troubled past. The exhumation, expected to last several days, is the first agreed to by a Spanish court after a campaign by Argentine investigators working on a case being advanced by Argentine Federal Judge María Romilda Servini de Cubría.

Hundreds of Spaniards turned to the Argentine court system two years ago for help in uncovering crimes committed during the 1936-39 civil war and the subsequent 36-year dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, by using an international human rights law.

On the edge of a cemetery in Guadalajara, some 50 kilometres from Madrid, volunteers dug open a grave believed to hold 22 or 23 bodies after a campaign by 90-year-old Ascensión Mendieta, who is seeking her father’s remains. “I’m overwhelmed by all this, but I know we’re going to get there and get what we wanted,” she said. “After this I can die in peace.” Her father Timoteo, who fought against Franco’s forces, is believed to have been shot amid reprisals after the war ended.

Hundreds of thousands of people died during the conflict, with atrocities committed on both sides. The victors under Franco went on to execute thousands of people after the war, according to British historian Paul Preston’s book The Spanish Holocaust.

Forty years after Franco’s death, the Argentine-led investigation into possible crimes against humanity during his rule could revive a movement to confront Spain’s past, which gained prominence after the Socialists came to power in 2004. A historical memory association, which helped with the dig in Guadalajara, has carried out several exhumations in recent years at the request of families. But building legal cases in Spain has been impossible. The country passed an amnesty law in 1977 which pardoned the crimes of the Franco government.

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/207091/spain-digs-up-franco-graves-80-years-on

[Judi Lynn]

1. Hope they keep on going until everything buried is finally illuminated. It's about time, isn't it?

In the end, it will ALL be known.

Fascists always have hoped they could die peacefully in their sleep before justice could catch them.

[forest444]

2. They were in fact pretty confident they would.

Last edited Wed Jan 20, 2016, 08:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Until Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón began taking a second look, that is. Predictably enough, the Franquistas used their many friends in the Spanish judiciary (which like Argentina's judiciary, is Opus Dei-dominated) to wage a no hold barred retaliatory campaign against Judge Garzón - a ploy that ultimately failed.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/27/baltasar-garzon-cleared-franco-crimes

This inquisition, in fact, led Garzón to seek exile in Argentina, where he leads UNESCO's Human Rights Bureau and directs the Baltasar Garzón International Foundation in a joint effort with the University of Buenos Aires Law School.

Now that Macri is in office, I'm sure they'll do everything to force him out of the country; but I certainly hope he stays. His prestige and wise counsel are needed there now more than they have at any time since democracy was restored 32 years ago.


[center][br]A Spanish poster calls for support for Judge Garzón during the sham trial against him for "abuse of power."[br]He won, and left Spain shortly afterward.[/center]