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Spain Drops Probe Into Franco Crimes

But plan to dig up mass graves may still go ahead

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 19, 2008 8:48 AM CST
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(Newser) – One of Spain's leading judges terminated an inquiry into atrocities committed during the 1936-1939 civil war and the ensuing dictatorship, ending the country's first criminal investigation into Francisco Franco's regime. The judge dropped the case after government prosecutors questioned his jurisdiction over what the suit called crimes against humanity. But the planned exhumation of hundreds of victims in mass graves may still take place, reports the New York Times.

Public attention to the Franco lawsuit has put pressure on Spain's government to reckon with the country's dark decades. While conservative groups welcomed the end to the trial, advocates for victims of the regime called the termination a disgrace. "We have teams of Spanish peacekeepers exhuming mass graves in Bosnia and yet we can’t even deal with our own graves," said one.

A worker behind a human skull in a mass grave in San Rafael cemetery in Malaga, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008. Malaga became one of many execution grounds for perceived opponents of Francisco Franco.
A worker behind a human skull in a mass grave in San Rafael cemetery in Malaga, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008. Malaga became one of many execution grounds for perceived opponents of Francisco Franco.   (AP Photo/Sergio Torres)
A judge has ended an investigation into atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil War and ensuing right-wing dictatorship, the first official probe into the darkest chapters of Spain's history.
A judge has ended an investigation into atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil War and ensuing right-wing dictatorship, the first official probe into the darkest chapters of Spain's history.   (AP Photo/file)
Juliana Sanchez stands by a mass grave at the San Rafael cemetery in Malaga, southern Spain, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, where she thinks the remains of her father she lost 70 years ago may be.
Juliana Sanchez stands by a mass grave at the San Rafael cemetery in Malaga, southern Spain, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, where she thinks the remains of her father she lost 70 years ago may be.   (AP Photo/Sergio Torres)
A worker measures a skull in a mass grave in San Rafael cemetery in Malaga, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008. Malaga became one of many execution grounds for perceived opponents of Francisco Franco.
A worker measures a skull in a mass grave in San Rafael cemetery in Malaga, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008. Malaga became one of many execution grounds for perceived opponents of Francisco Franco.   (AP Photo/Sergio Torres)
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How today's Spanish papers reported the story
Typically Spanish

Campaigners keep up the fight
Times (UK)

 
Spain • history • crimes against humanity • Francisco Franco • Spanish Civil War

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