By Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour Party
A BBC Storyville production, called Facing Franco’s Crime, The silence of others gives voice to the victims of the 40-year rule of Spain’s fascist dictatorship. His death in 1975 paved the way for the restoration of a form of democratic rule and the release of political prisoners. However, the amnesty also included the perpetrators of Franco’s crimes. This has become known as the, ‘Pact for Forgetting’.
It appears that those that born after the Franco dictatorship have little knowledge about this period, because schools don’t teach about the crimes committed by his regime. Campaigners have sought to end the amnesty for those responsible for torture and the murder of Franco’s political opponents.
Franco an ally against ‘communism’
The programme pointed out that there are powerful interests that are preventing former police, judges and political leaders from facing criminal charges. The ‘forgetting’ had begun a long time before the death of Franco. He was often embraced by the so-called, leaders of the so-called free world. He was viewed as an ally against ‘communist tyranny’. Even Spanish political leaders, like Ansar and Rojoy, defend the amnesty for those that are accused of crimes against their own subjects.
Some of the crimes were relatively recent. One leading campaigner for justice, who demonstrated for democratic rights in Spain in the late 1960s was arrested and tortured by the regime. He named a one of his torturers who became one of those who was sought for extradition to stand trial for crimes against humanity. But the Spanish courts blocked this, on the grounds that it exceeded time limits. As it stands, in other words, criminals are still given protection by the state.
Monument to Franco’s victims
What is equally galling, is that many street names are in honour of those responsible for the killings during Franco’s reign. The campaigners have won some successes on this score and so some have been changed. Also, elderly sons and daughters have had their parents’ bodies exhumed after they were executed and dumped into mass graves. One of the few monuments for the victims of Franco was shot at, but amusingly, the sculptor thought that it added a fitting final touches to his work. The largest monument is still the one in honour of the dictator himself.
One of those featured in the programme was Carlos Seploy, who was a human rights lawyer (he died in 2017). He had assisted in Spain’s attempts to extradite Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, to have him stand trial for crimes against humanity. He also issued a lawsuit for a Argentine request for former police officers to stand trial.
Abduction of new-born babies
Another aspect of Franco’s regime was the removal of new-born babies from mothers who were imprisoned because they were thought to be hostile; the babies were and handed to followers of Franco. These nut jobs thought that this would remove the ‘red gene’ from future generations. The practice of removing new-borns from their mothers continued right into the 1980s. A campaigner told the programme that she was a 18 year-old single mum, which carried a lot of stigma in those days. Those that are still alive are being investigated for what, in effect, were abductions.
The programme pointed out that many of the dictatorships in Latin America fell in the 1980s. Initially, they followed the Spanish position of allowing an amnesty to the perpetrators of mass killings. But over time, many of these states introduced ‘truth commissions’ or tribunals. These have led to convictions against those that have committed crimes. In some cases they have built museums over mass graves in honour of the victims. It would fitting if the monument for Franco was also replaced with a museum in honour of all those that fought against fascism and Franco .
April 3, 2020
The programme is available on BBC i-player here.
