however , took place in the context of several parliamentary initiatives that called on the government to make reparations for these events , in alliance with Riffian associations which , in addition , had precedents . In 2007 , a first PNL promoted by the Republican Left of Catalonia ( ERC ), possibly due to the influence of Amazigh communities in the region , advocated the “ recognition of responsibilities and the reparation of the damage caused as a result of the use of chemical weapons in the Rif war ”. However , this proposal was debated and finally rejected by an overwhelming majority in the Constitutional Commission , with only 3 votes in favour and 33 against ( BOCG , D-255 , of 14 February 2007 ).
The Rif case is clearly a specific initiative aimed at addressing a specific historical injustice related this time to the most recent colonial past , the Rif war , and the use of mustard gas in cities such as Chauen , where the civil population was affected by the actions of the Spanish army . To date , no official act of recognition of these events has taken place , nor has a board been established , despite the decades of calls by local agents to investigate whether the use of these weapons has had continuous effects on the population , as suggested by some reports , and to assess both material and symbolic compensation . The 2007 proposal included some of these claims , such as recognising the State ’ s responsibility for the military actions carried out by the Spanish army against the civil population of the Rif ( in addition to the use of these weapons ); facilitating the research work of historians by adapting archives ; reviewing the content of museums , monuments , text books “ that conceal the use of chemical weapons and / or distort historical veracity ”; supporting research into the effects of the weapons and assuming possible individual financial compensation .
In 2021 , coinciding with the increasing trend among some European countries to recognise and repair colonisation crimes , the Rif issue was brought up as a subject of debate again in Congress . Once again , ERC , with the nationalist parliamentary group ( GPN ) in the Senate , tried to include , although unsuccessfully , a proposal similar to that presented in 2007 through two amendments to the Democratic Memory Law ( BOCG , 386 , of 22 September ). That same year , the deputy from Junts per Catalunya , Mariona Illamola , presented a question to the Board of Congress to determine if the government had intentions to recognise and compensate these events . In this same period , some members of the European Parliament from the same party carried out a similar action in the European Parliament , calling for the possibility of promoting compensations “ for the past actions of a European Union member ” ( Question E-004299 / 202 , of 20 September 2021 ). A year later , the parliamentary groups Plural and ERC presented two new PNL attempts both in the Foreign Affairs Committee of Congress and in the Committee of International Cooperation for Development , with the aim of promoting the recognition of the events and “ compensation for the region affected by the damage , not specific individuals or victims , but the whole region ” ( PNL 161 / 003994 Y 161 / 003417 ). None of these initiatives succeeded at progressing under different arguments .
Links and sources
BOCG ( 361 ), PNL 161 / 003417 related to the condemnation of the use of chemical weapons by the Spanish State in the Rif war , 30 November 2021 . https :// www . congreso . es / public _ oficiales / L14 / CONG / BOCG / D / BOCG-14-D-
BOCG ( 468 ), PNL 161 / 003994 which urges the government to compensate the damage caused by the use of chemical weapons in the Rif war , 9 June 2022 . https :// www . congreso . es / public _ oficiales / L14 / CONG / BOCG / D / BOCG-14-D-468 . PDF # page = 58
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