relatives had to turn to another country , Argentina , to seek justice and reparation . The United Nations has pointed out the stumbling block posed by the Amnesty Law passed in October 1977 during the transition to democracy in the investigation of the crimes of the Franco regime . Do you think this law should be repealed or some kind of commission created to investigate the crimes of the dictatorship , as Spanish remembrance associations are demanding ?
The law does not provide for the repeal of the 1977 Amnesty Law . We can still remember a time during the late-Franco period when we ’ d go out into the streets and shout , “ Freedom , amnesty and statute of autonomy !” Renowned Spanish legal experts argue that the 1977 Amnesty Law “ is more cited than read ” and understand that it is intended for political crimes rather than genocidal acts and crimes against humanity . It is important to keep in mind that Spain had ratified the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights just months before the Amnesty Law came into force . It should be noted that the draft bill for the Democratic Memory Act expressly stipulates that , in accordance with Article 10.2 of the Spanish Constitution , the public authorities shall interpret that law in accordance with international human rights treaties ratified by Spain , without prejudice to its direct application where appropriate . It also stipulates that the state will guarantee the right to investigate the human rights and international humanitarian law violations that occurred during the Civil War and the dictatorship , as well as during the period between the dictator ’ s death and the approval of the Spanish Constitution , and will create , to that end , a Democratic Memory and Human Rights Prosecutor ’ s Office , whose role will be to promote the search for victims of the events under investigation with a view to properly identifying and locating them . I think it is important to highlight the fact that the new public prosecutor has decided to expressly revoke the order issued in 2016 , which hindered the investigations carried out by Judge María Servini in Argentina .
8 . At the time of writing , a trial is under way relating to Pazo de Meirás , one of the dictator ’ s summer residences . The Franco family wants to sell it , despite questions over ownership . Meanwhile , the Francisco Franco National Foundation continues to retain documentation and make apologies for the dictator . How can we fight against these anti-democratic actions ?
The Solicitor General of the State quite rightly defended the public nature of Pazo de Meirás in court and demanded that it be returned to the state . The judge ruled that the Franco family must give up the property . With respect to the other questions , the answer is clear and outlined in the draft bill : Franco apologism and the direct or indirect incitement to hatred or violence against the victims of the Civil War or Francoism , based on their status as victims , run counter to the public ’ s interest . And , as you know , the law states that failure by a foundation to pursue aims of general interest constitute grounds for dissolution . 9 . What is your opinion of the memory policies and programmes promoted by EU institutions ? What are their main challenges ?
One of our priorities is to link Spanish memory policies much more closely to those of Europe . Above all , we must explicitly state that to commemorate Spain and its regions is , without question , to commemorate Europe . For example , part of the resignification of the Valley of the Fallen involves recognizing it as a European monument that can be compared and contrasted with architecture designed during other European fascist movements , such as those that took place in Italy and Germany . Obviously , every architectural structure used as political propaganda is idiosyncratic and must be interpreted “ inwardly ”. However , they are still paradigmatic expressions of the social , political and ideological movements that emerged throughout Europe in the first half of the 20th century and can therefore also be interpreted in a transnational context .
That said , the challenge lies in knowing the
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Observing Memories ISSUE 4