The British Parliament's House of Lords has passed a resolution calling the Spanish government to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate and obtain reparations for the victims of crimes committed during the Spanish Civil war and the subsequent 40-year dictatorship which ruled the country until 1975.
This request was raised at a meeting at Westminster Palace hosted by British MP Lord Shutt of Greetland, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party and a former director of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. A talk was also given by Spanish journalist Rafael Guerrero, who hosts a radio programme on the issue. However, according to Mr. Guerrero, although the Lords had not yet made an official statement, research on the issue has been carried out.
The British Parliament's resolution stressed claims made by victims and relatives of victims of the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship, which caused the death of thousands in indiscriminate bombings of the civilian population and the execution of dissidents until the very end of General Franco’s regime. Moreover, hundreds of corpses were made to disappear after execution and dozens of children were illegally taken from their families and adopted by prominent supporters of the dictator. In fact, Spain is the country where most people have vanished illegally, second only to Cambodia.
To date, approximately 2,500 mass graves are to be exhumed across the country. Nevertheless, the Spanish government is not set to dedicate any means to search for the people who have disappeared and it is unlikely to do anything to recognize and honour the victims of Franco’s regime despite the fact that even the Committee on Forced Disappearances of the United Nations has raised concerns on the lack of investigation of such crimes. For this reason, the support of the British parliament for the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission by the Spanish parliament would put more pressure on that country to seek justice and redress for them.
The debate in the House of Lords has made it clear that the international community does not understand the impunity surrounding the Spanish dictatorship and has forced its victims to seek redress before Judge Servini in Argentina. Ironically, Spain, where genocides which took place abroad have been investigated and put to trial, is not allowed to investigate the slaughter that took place within its borders.
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