The new laws that have been approved or are being debated in the regions of Aragon, Valencia and Castile and León, where coalitions formed by the conservative Popular Party (PP) and the far-right Vox govern, “may call into question the obligations of the Spanish State (…) in terms of human rights” It is “make invisible the serious violations of Human Rights committed during Franco’s dictatorial regime”between 1939 and 1975.
“Reopening wounds from the past”
Following the Democratic Memory Law introduced two years ago by the Spanish socialist government, with the aim of “settle the debt of Spanish democracy to its past” and bring “justice, reparation and dignity” to the victims of the Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship, the Popular Party (PP) and Vox – both against the law – have tried to replace it with “laws of concord” in the three regions where they govern in coalition.
Both parties accuse the left of wanting to “reopen past wounds” with the “Democratic Memory” Law, approved in 2022, and are trying to counter the application of this law through the adoption, at regional level, of “concord laws”. Which, in turn, were denounced as a blatant attempt to minimize, justify or eradicate the horrors of the Franco era by the Historical Memory associations and the Government of Spain, which referred the matter to the experts of the Nations.
After analyzing the initiatives of the PP and Vox Governments to revoke the “Democratic Memory” Law in the regions of Aragon, Valencia and Castile and Leon, the three United Nations experts urge Spain to “take all necessary measures to ensure strict respect for international standards governing the preservation of historical memory regarding serious violations of Human Rights”.
In a letter sent to the Spanish Government at the end of April, the experts stated that the concord law “would make invisible the serious violations of Human Rights committed during the Franco dictatorship”, explaining that the law proposed by Vox, in the Valencia region , does not take into account “all the victims of social, political and terrorist violence and ideological and religious persecution” of the Civil War and the Franco dictatorship.
Independent experts, appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council but who do not speak on its behalf, also remember that Spain has a duty towards the thousands of victims of forced disappearances during the Civil War and dictatorshipmany still buried in mass graves.
“Not investigating and prosecuting these violations is, in itself, a failure to comply with the rules established in human rights treaties”they stated. “Impunity for these violations can be an important factor in their repetition”.
The three experts signing the report are Fabián Salvioli, Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice and Reparation, Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions and Aua Baldé, President of the Working Group on Forced or Involuntary Disappearances.
The Spanish Minister of Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, who had referred the matter to the United Nations, welcomed this Friday the UN’s “scathing” report against the regional laws of the Popular Party (PP) and Vox.
“PP and Vox’s “concordance” laws violate human rights. We will continue to defend legality.”, wrote on the social network X, formerly Twitter. And he added that the Spanish executive will challenge the “concord laws” before the Constitutional Court and international organizations if there is no agreement with the three regions.
In a first reaction, made hours earlier on the social network “, “make victims invisible”.
w/agencies
Tags: experts warn attempt Spanish whitewash Francos dictatorship
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