2023-05-04 11:50:24
- The new law should help organize the search for cases of forced disappearances by the State, create a single DNA bank, accompaniment to victims and relatives, and access to state and Church archives, among other measures.
“Are the parliamentary groups going to allow a new legislature to pass without the Stolen Babies Law being approved? Is the government going to renege on its commitment to guarantee that there will be answers for women who have been looking for their sons and daughters for decades, for people who are trying to locate their brothers or sisters, or for those who are seeking to know their origin and true identity? Amnesty International urges that the Stolen Babies Act continue and that this much-needed law be approved once and for all. To do this, the parliamentary groups only need political will and urgent action,” said Daniel Canales, a researcher at Amnesty International Spain.
“Is the government going to renege on its commitment to guarantee that there will be answers for women who have been looking for their sons and daughters for decades, for people who are trying to locate their brothers or sisters, or for those who are seeking to know their origin and true identity?”
Amnesty International recalls that we are facing what could be a historic opportunity to clarify the human rights violations committed in Spain for more than 50 years (from the end of the Civil War until the late 1990s). Thousands of people report having been victims of forced disappearance during that period, either because they suffered the abduction of a family member, or because their identity was appropriated and replaced, with the participation, tolerance, and acquiescence of State agents. Amnesty International documented just over a hundred of these complaints in its March 2021 report, Time for truth and justice. Human rights violations in cases of “stolen babies”. Until now, the response provided by the authorities to the victims of these crimes has not been adequate or in accordance with international standards.
Approving this law means complying with the recommendations of the United Nations in recent years. Fabian Salvioli, Rapporteur for the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetitionand the Enforced Disappearances Working Group They have expressed concern about the paralysis of the processing of the law, and urged its approval. A law that, in his opinion, largely includes the recommendations formulated by international mechanisms and, in general, the norms of international human rights law.
“Recently we have delivered more than 16,000 signatures to the Congress of Deputies asking that this legislature not be closed without a law that guarantees: the search for and identification of boys and girls, exhaustive and independent investigations, comprehensive legal and psychosocial assistance for victims and family members, and the public recognition of the impact that this type of violence has had specifically on women for decades,” said Daniel Canales.
What should the stolen baby law include?
Amnesty International agrees with the last final observations to Spain of the Committee against Enforced Disappearances, adopted in September 2021, that for this law to be effective and to provide answers to those who continue to search, it must have a global approach that facilitates the search processes in their entirety and provides support in all phases of said processes. For this reason, among other aspects, the Law must: establish a single DNA bank, promote exhaustive and effective investigations that serve to provide answers about what happened, ensuring that the limitation period is counted from the moment the identity is restored of the victims, allow access to all public and private files and documents, as well as guarantee that all victims receive full reparation.
February 2023 closed the deadline for submitting amendments to the State Stolen Babies Billa parliamentary process that had begun in September 2020. In all this time, International Amnesty and the State Coordinator of Support for the Argentine Complaint Against Crimes of Francoism (CEAQUA) have held meetings with parliamentary groups, representatives of different ministries with the aim of promoting their processing. All the parliamentary groups with which we have met have expressed their will and consensus to push this law forward. We are awaiting a meeting with the Socialist Parliamentary Group, a fundamental meeting so that the law can be modified in line with international standards and an agreement can be reached in Parliament.
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