Post Civil War History in 5 minutes

The old disputes over the civil war are back - only this time Spain´s superhero Judge Garzón has picked up the case and is taking on the Bishops. the Military and the Mayor of Granada ...and anyone else who dares to stand in his way.

Back in December 2005 I published an article called Open Wounds - an article about the need for recognition and access to information by the victims of Francoism. It appeared almost two years before the proposals became law on the 31st October 2007. It wasn't that my article was ahead of its time, rather that the law was running a little late: 70 years to be be precise.

For a superb radio program on this issue download this BBC World Service documentary.

The Law of Historic Memory ( La Ley de la Memoria Historica) has always been a little controversial. Simply put it attempts to rectify some of the unanswered injustices in Spain that lay unadressed after the death of Franco. Many of Francos victims had awaited the death of the dictator for some semblance of justice, and then had to await a constitution, and then a democratic party to take office that had the moral courage to take on such a task. 70 years on we have now the law of historic memory.

So what did this law try to do and why is it back in the news again now?

Fundamentally the law set out to:

1. To recognise the victims of violence on both sides of the Spanish Civil War and later during Franco's regime.
2. Condem the Francoist regime
3. To prohibit political events at the Valley of the Fallen - Franco's burial place.
4. To remove Francoist symbols from public buildings and spaces.
5. To provide state help in the tracing, identification and eventual exhumation of victims of Francoist repression whose corpses are still missing, often buried in mass graves.
6. The granting of Spanish nationality to surviving members of the International Brigades, without requiring them to renounce their own nationalities.
7. The rejection of the legitimacy of laws passed and trials conducted by the Francoist regime.
8. The temporary change to Spanish nationality law, granting the right of return and of citizenship to those who left Spain under Franco for political or economic reasons, and their descendants.
9. The provision of aid to the victims and descendants of victims of the Civil War and the Francoist regime.
   

Number 5 is the hot cake of the moment. There is a limited time frame left for individuals to find the remains of their families as many of the those that are actively involved in fighting the injustices are in the last years of their lives. For these people it has been necessary to move fast on this issue. One of the problems has been the jealous guarding of details about who was killed and where they were buried by the military and the church: Two official bodies that kept detailed accounts of many of the killings during and after the civil war. Even the government has had difficulties prising this information from these super conservative bodies. Hence the need for a superhero: Judge Baltasar Garzón.

Garzón has been, shall we say a little controversial to date in Spain. You may remember him from the days when Pinochet visited Margaret Thatcher for a cup of tea and to share dictatorial histories in her back garden in England. It was Garzon who attemped to get him extradited to Spain to answer for war crimes. And it was Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw that turned down Garzon´s request. Nice one Jack.

Garzón has also investigated and help convict a PSOE minister as head of the GAL state terrorist groups. He also investigated Jesús Gil, former mayor of Marbella and owner of Atlético Madrid, on grounds of corruption.

You may remember Garzón from 2001, when he launched an inquiry into the offshore accounts of Spain's second largest bank BBVA for alleged money laundering offences.

You may remember Garzón In January 2003, when he fiercely criticised the United States government over the detention of al-Qaida suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

You may remember Garzón when in March 2007 he published in the Spanish newspaper El País an account of his plans to sue US president George W. Bush.

In short, he is controversial, not afraid of what others think of him and an idealist. He also has the full backing of President Zapatero in his present campaign and the total opposition of the Partido Popular, as he now turns to the military and the church in Spain over the records of the civil war dead. The Bishops have already denied him access which can only spur the man on to dig even deeper into their affairs.

The scene is being set for a true battle between the forces of the conservative right and the popular demands of the victimised left. Now do I hear an echo somewhere from the past?

Stay tuned for more adventures of Judge Baltasar Garzón as he not only takes on the Bishops, but also the Villainous Alcaldes of Granada and Seville who have been denying him access to war records.