2023-09-15 15:18:33
Julio Pacheco and Rosa García leaving the courtAfter 6 years of fighting in the Spanish courts and 100 complaints filed, for the first time, a Spanish Court takes a statement from a victim of torture in a context of crimes against humanity.
A fact of great significance and exceptionality in the fight against impunity for the crimes of Franco’s regime.
Social organizations urge public authorities and political parties to adopt all necessary measures so that this exceptional event ceases to be so and there can be truth, justice and reparation for the victims.
For the first time in history, a Spanish Court takes a statement from a victim of torture during the Franco dictatorship. After the suspension of the statements on July 14, today, the Court of Instruction number 50 of Madrid has taken a statement from Julio Pacheco Yepes, as a consequence of the torture he suffered in August 1975 in the General Directorate of Security in Madrid, in which different members of the Political-Social Brigade, the political police during the dictatorship, participated. A statement has also been taken from Rosa Garciain his capacity as a witness and in relation to the torture suffered by Julio Pacheco.
On May 12, 2023, the Chief Judge of the Investigative Court number 50 of Madrid, Mrs. Ana María Iguácel Pérez, admitted the criminal complaint presented by Julio Pacheco for processing and indicated July 14 as the date to take statements from the complainant and the witness. . That day, at the time when the statement was going to be taken, the reinforcement Judge who had been assigned to the Court, Mr. Fernando Muñoz Leal, decided to suspend said statements without prior notice, offering as the only explanation that he should reexamine the case.
Today, the statements have taken place normally for two hours, with the deponents providing data and information about the events that were the subject of the complaint before the Court. The legal team has positively assessed that “all questions have been aimed at clarifying the facts and continuing with the investigation.” During the statement, the chief judge of Court Instruction number 50 and the prosecutor’s office were present, as well as a prosecutor assigned to the democratic memory room prosecutor’s office, Mrs. Virginia García Aller.
The complainant, Julio Pacheco, is very satisfied and highlights the importance of finally having a Court take a statement in the framework of a criminal process from a person who suffered serious punishable violations of human rights during the Franco dictatorship. The complainant has described the treatment received by the judge as “very kind and receptive, with very good treatment; “I have felt very comfortable and calm.” Likewise, he has expressed: “the process continues and I believe it will continue. It is now beginning to break the eastern wall of silence and impunity that we have. And that we have declared today means that there can be more and that we can, finally, have justice here in the Spanish State.”
From CEAQUA, Amnesty International, Iridia and Sira, we want to highlight that this is the first time that a Spanish Court takes a statement from a victim of torture during the Franco regime, in a context of crimes against humanity, this fact being as important as it is exceptional.
We must remember that more than a hundred complaints in which crimes against humanity, Francoist crimes, have been archived, some of them after the current Democratic Memory Law was enacted.
The Spanish State currently, even taking into account the progress and dynamics that in this area can generate the admission for processing of the complaint that Julio Pacheco presented at the time, maintains a framework of general impunity that continues to prevent judicial investigation of the crimes. Francoists.
For this reason, from human rights organizations we want to challenge the judiciary, the legislature, the executive and the prosecutor’s office to adopt all the necessary and essential measures so that this exceptional event becomes a habitual occurrence, and ultimately, so that the impunity policies maintained to date are reversed once and for all.
Furthermore, we remind political parties that the legislative measures adopted so far do not fully and effectively guarantee the right to truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition to the victims of Franco’s crimes. Adjusted, rigorous and much more ambitious legislative measures are necessary, always in line with what is demanded by the United Nations Human Rights Council, to reverse the policies of oblivion and impunity maintained since the Spanish Constitution was promulgated almost 45 years ago. .
We will continue to present complaints in the Spanish Courts and Tribunals and demand the right to truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition until we break the wall of impunity that prevents the investigation of Francoist crimes.
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