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).
