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Rights group urges Spain to abolish civil war amnesty law

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Spain should repeal its 1977 amnesty law that bars investigation and prosecution of crimes committed under the Franco regime rather than "prosecuting a judge seeking accountability for past abuses," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday. HRW called for Spain to comply with the 2008 recommendation from the UN Human Rights Committee to end the amnesty law. HRW asserts that the criminal investigation and pending judicial proceedings against Spanish National Court judge Baltasar Garzon are at odds with the very principles that Garzon helped to enforce in prosecuting human rights abuses abroad. According to HRW Americas director Jose Manuel Vivanco, "Spanish courts have routinely failed to investigate allegations of horrendous crimes of the past, but are being surprisingly active in prosecuting a judge who tried to push for accountability." Garzon is under judicial scrutiny for ordering an investigation in September 2008 in response to a complaint by the Organization for Restoring Historical Memory that the Franco regime carried out systematic killings and enforced disappearances of opponents. Last month, a Spanish Supreme Court judge rejected Garzon's motion to dismiss the complaint originally lodged by Manos Limpias, a far-right leaning advocacy organization. The judge ruled that Garzon may have exceeded his jurisdictional authority when he launched an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco and during the Spanish Civil War. Garzon maintains that he acted within the bounds of the law, basing his jurisdiction determination on the National Court's competence over crimes against the government and high authorities of the state. Garzon has petitioned the Spanish Supreme Court to allow him to continue in his duties during the investigation.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 20, 2010 (boomark / email).