jump to navigation

From Spain: 2nd December 2012 December 3, 2012

Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.
trackback

ejh appears to be better and here is the latest post on the Spanish Disaster blog. Identity, memory and Franco.

Comments»

1. Tomboktu - December 3, 2012

His second-last link deserves a bit more of a profile.

More than 200 judges across Spain have come out publicly to manifest their anger with the Popular Party (PP) government over its decision to pardon four Catalan police officers who were found guilty of torturing a man who they mistakenly believed was an assailant.

“The government’s decision is an improper one in a democracy; illegitimate and unethical. For that reason, we cannot just stand back and not raise our voices against the abuses committed in the right to pardon and warn of their effects, which are devastating,” reads a statement released by the judges.

Among those who signed the document are Supreme Court Justices Perfecto Andrés and Joaquín Giménez, and a senior member of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Margarita Robles.

The four members of the Mossos d’Esquadra were convicted and sentenced in 2008 for torturing the suspect they had arrested. Their convictions had been upheld by the Supreme Court.

Full report here.

[Reblogged from — oh, hang on…]

Like

Reply
ejh - December 9, 2012

Actually I have done a little recycling myself, since that same link appears in this week’s piece.

Like

Reply
2. Paul Wilson - December 4, 2012

The issue that is begining to emerge is that of the ‘Nino Robados’ or Stolen Children. Many children of political opponents were taken from their parents who were quite often executed and given false names and farmed out to Right Wing parents. The agency that carried this out was the Catholic Church which had been given control of Hospitals and Orphanages during the Franco Era. This was an attempt at political cleansing to stop new generations of non Rightists forming a threat. Clergy and Rightwing Doctors continued this practise after the end of the Dictatorship and this is how it all came to light. A Nun in her 80’s was arrested some months ago in Madrid. Typically by the 80’s they were targeting unmarried mothers in big cities rather than political opponents, a practise that was no longer practicable by then.

The present Government has been forced to set up a special unit to try to track down victims or given the passage of time their children or grandchildren. One estimate is of a possible 300.000 original children. If that is the case then a huge proportion of Spains current population could be unaware of their true Familial origins. This is a time bomb ticking away, and it is ticking away under the PP who are the heirs of Facism.

To date about 3000 cases have been identified in the South of Spain, 300 in the Canary Islands where I live.

Like

Reply
ejh - December 9, 2012

Even were the numbers greatly exaggerated, it is still an enormous scandal involving huge numbers of stolen children. And it is not the sort of story that wil go away. It also extends (as Paul suggests) into the post-Franco era, which may mean that the 1977 amnesty concerning crimes committed under th dictatorship is unlikely to apply.

Like

Reply
3. Paul Wilson - December 11, 2012

Yes ejh, I believe that is the situation in this case. The Doctor who signed the fake Birth Certificate is dead and the Sister is literally keeping to her vows of silence. I dont know about you but in the short space of time I have lived here I have found out that all of these issues are incredibly divisive and most people dont want to talk about them. About 6 months ago I watched a news item on RTVE about a reburial of victims of a Facist firing squad who had then been buried in a mass grave. This was in Levante. Judging by the photos of the men concerned they had been members of the old Guardia De Asalto, the police force that had remained loyal to the Republic. After the reburial the mourners went by bus to Madrid, as the Partido Popular Deputies filed into the Cortez, the crowd screamed ‘ Assasins Killers’ at them. Congratulations on the Blog BTW.

Like

Reply
LeftAtTheCross - December 11, 2012

‘Ghosts of Spain’ is worth a read about that divisiveness:

Like

Reply
CMK - December 11, 2012

I was looking at that recently in the bookshop and considering it. Will see what it’s like. I wonder is ‘The Spanish Holocaust’ any good? Had a flick through it and looked interesting.

Like

Reply

Leave a comment