The Diplomat in Spain

The Diplomat

The UN has urged the Spanish government to “take the necessary measures” to preserve historical memory in the face of the laws of concord passed by PP and Vox in Aragon, Valencia and Castile and Leon, arguing that they can “make invisible” the “serious violations of human rights” committed during the “Franco dictatorship”.

This is what three United Nations rapporteurs have expressed in a report in which they have responded to the complaint filed by the Government against the so-called “laws of concord” that have been processed in three of the territories where PP and Vox govern in coalition. The central government took the matter to the UN because it considers these laws to be “contrary” to the values enshrined in the Law of Democratic Memory passed during the last legislature.

“The so-called ‘concord’ laws approved or presented for parliamentary approval in the autonomous communities of Aragon, Castile and Leon, and Valencia, could affect the obligation of the Spanish State, including its national or local powers and entities, in matters of human rights, in particular the obligation to guarantee the preservation of the historical memory of serious human rights violations,” reads the UN document, according to Europa Press.

After analysing the projects promoted by PP and Vox in these autonomous communities, the three rapporteurs urge the government of Pedro Sánchez to adopt “all necessary measures” to ensure “strict respect for international human rights standards regarding the preservation of the historical memory of serious human rights violations”.

As they explain, these laws “order the suppression of multiple entities, projects, websites and activities of historical memory” and can “limit access to the truth” about the fate or whereabouts of “the victims of serious human rights violations” and can also “make invisible the serious human rights violations committed during Franco’s dictatorial regime, or omit to name or condemn that regime”.

They also point to the importance of not discriminating between types of victims when it comes to recognising and providing justice and reparation to them, although they point out that the laws of concord could lead to assimilating the violations committed during the Franco dictatorship and the civil war “to a heterogeneous group of crimes or violations committed by different actors, state and non-state, throughout the 20th century in Spain”, thus removing recognition from “the hundreds of thousands” of people killed in extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances committed during the regime of Francisco Franco.

For this reason, they point out that it is the duty of “all branches of government”, including the executive, legislative and judiciary, as well as “all government entities” at national, regional or local level, “to comply with the obligation to protect human rights, including the obligation to ensure the historical preservation of the memory of serious human rights violations”.

“We also reiterate that these measures must be aimed at preserving the collective memory from oblivion and, in particular, at preventing the emergence of revisionist and negationist theses. These laws (proposed or adopted) would hinder the right to know the truth and the right to freedom of association,” the report states.

The signatories of the document are the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition, Fabian Salvioli; the Chair of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Aua Baldé; and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz. With this report, the United Nations responds to the complaint filed by the Government against the laws of concord approved by PP and Vox in Aragón and which are being processed in Castilla y León and in the Valencian Community.

Response from the PP

Through its secretary general, Cuca Gamarra, the PP has reacted to the report by the UN rapporteurs, pointing out that what needs to be “rectified” is the “revisionism” of the law of memory approved by the PSOE with the support of Bildu, which does not condemn terrorism.

Speaking to Antena 3, Gamarra said that “possibly” those who have issued the report “do not know” the content of the laws of concord agreed by PP and Vox and that they also do not know that the Law of Democratic Memory “that Bildu has imposed” with the Socialists describes the period of the Transition as “undemocratic”.

“This revisionism is not what Spanish society deserves, and it is what the PP is putting its foot down on, and not only that, but we are very clear that the Transition is one of the best periods in our history”, said the PP leader, saying that they will rectify wherever they govern “those laws” promoted by the PSOE “hand in hand with those who do not condemn terrorism” and who deny “the best of our democracy”.