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17mar06

Recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the need for international condemnation of the Franco regime.

Parliamentary Assembly
Assemblée parlementaire

Recommendation 1736 (2006) |1|

Need for international condemnation of the Franco regime

1. The Parliamentary Assembly strongly condemns the extensive and wide-ranging human rights abuses committed by the Franco regime in Spain from 1939 to 1975.

2. Public debate in Spain on the question of drawing up a full account of the Franco dictatorship’s crimes was launched in the 1980s and continues to this very day. The debate has further intensified under the present administration.

3. Initiatives started in the early 1980s, aimed at removing symbols of the dictatorship, such as statues, from public places and at renaming streets and schools named after Franco and his generals, have been quite successful.

4. The Assembly hopes that the present debate in Spain will result in a thorough and in-depth examination and assessment of the Franco regime’s actions and crimes. In particular, the Assembly looks forward to the results of the work of the Interministerial Commission for the Examination of the Situation of Victims of Civil War and the Franco Regime, established in October 2004.

5. At the same time, the Assembly underlines that the violation of human rights is not an internal matter of a single country and therefore the international community is as much concerned as the Spaniards themselves.

6. The awareness of history is one of the preconditions for avoiding similar mistakes in the future. Furthermore, moral assessment and condemnation of committed crimes plays an important role in the education of young generations.

7. The Assembly stresses that the Council of Europe is well placed for a serious discussion on the subject. In accordance with its fundamental principles it should condemn the crimes and violation of human rights under the Franco regime at international level.

8. The Assembly therefore calls on the Committee of Ministers to:

    8.1. adopt an official declaration for the international condemnation of the Franco regime and to mark 18 July 2006 as the official day of condemnation of the Franco regime as it marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish civil war and Franco’s overthrow of the government;

    8.2. urge the Spanish Government to:

    8.2.1. set up a national committee to investigate violations of human rights committed under the Franco regime which will submit its report to the Council of Europe;

    8.2.2. continue to make available to all historians and researchers all civilian and military archives which may contain documents that can contribute to establishing the truth regarding repression;

    8.2.3. set up a permanent exhibition in the underground basilica at the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) outside Madrid – where Franco is buried – explaining how it was built by the republican prisoners;

    8.2.4. encourage local authorities to erect memorials as a tribute to the victims of the Franco regime in the capital of Spain and in other major Spanish cities.

1. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 17 March 2006 (see Doc.10737, report of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Brincat). [Back]
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