Post by sciwriter on Dec 15, 2006 16:50:56 GMT -7
Viva Espana. Carl:
*Spain Debates Civil War Reparations (Giles, AP)*
*Friday, December 15, 2006*
*AP* <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061214/ap_on_re_eu/spain_civil_war>
*By Ciaran Giles*
Parliament on Thursday began debating a law that seeks reparations for
victims of Spain's 1936-39 Civil War and the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco
Franco.
The bill, proposed by the Socialist government in July, would also ban
symbols and references to the Franco regime in public buildings and asks
local and regional governments to rename streets or plazas that are named
after Franco or refer to his regime.
It also prohibits any political event at the Valley of the Fallen, a large
monument near Madrid that includes Franco's tomb and is the most potent
symbol of his regime.
"Along with increasing the rights of victims, the bill aims to pay off a
debt, a debt of injustice," said Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa
Fernandez de la Vega at the start of the debate.
The law says all victims of the Civil War and the Franco dictatorship will
have a year to request reparations from an ad hoc commission that was
created to draw up the bill. A total of $26.4 million will be made available
for payments.
Several political parties have proposed major amendments to the bill, saying
it does not go far enough to restore the rights of victims and in condemning
Franco and his regime. One amendment proposed by three parties calls for the
annulment of verdicts reached at trials carried out during Franco's 1939-75
dictatorship.
Meanwhile, the leading conservative opposition Popular Party has called for
the bill to be thrown out altogether, arguing that it reopens old wounds.
The bill, known as the Historic Memory Law, is expected to get past an
initial vote allowing it to be processed by Parliament but it is likely to
take several months before it is finally approved.
The measure follows a growing movement in recent years by families seeking a
proper burial for thousands of relatives executed by Franco's forces and
supporters during and after the Civil War and who were buried in unmarked
graves.
On Thursday, while the reparations debate was taking place in parliament,
the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory filed a complaint at
the National Court, asking it to investigate the disappearance of 30,000
people during the Civil War and Franco's dictatorship.
The court could take weeks to decide whether to take up the case.
Both sides in the war committed atrocities, including the execution of
civilians. The conflict pitted soldiers loyal to an elected Socialist-led
government known as Republicans against rebel Nationalist troops who backed
Franco in his military uprising that ultimately toppled the government.
Franco died in 1975.
*Spain Debates Civil War Reparations (Giles, AP)*
*Friday, December 15, 2006*
*AP* <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061214/ap_on_re_eu/spain_civil_war>
*By Ciaran Giles*
Parliament on Thursday began debating a law that seeks reparations for
victims of Spain's 1936-39 Civil War and the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco
Franco.
The bill, proposed by the Socialist government in July, would also ban
symbols and references to the Franco regime in public buildings and asks
local and regional governments to rename streets or plazas that are named
after Franco or refer to his regime.
It also prohibits any political event at the Valley of the Fallen, a large
monument near Madrid that includes Franco's tomb and is the most potent
symbol of his regime.
"Along with increasing the rights of victims, the bill aims to pay off a
debt, a debt of injustice," said Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa
Fernandez de la Vega at the start of the debate.
The law says all victims of the Civil War and the Franco dictatorship will
have a year to request reparations from an ad hoc commission that was
created to draw up the bill. A total of $26.4 million will be made available
for payments.
Several political parties have proposed major amendments to the bill, saying
it does not go far enough to restore the rights of victims and in condemning
Franco and his regime. One amendment proposed by three parties calls for the
annulment of verdicts reached at trials carried out during Franco's 1939-75
dictatorship.
Meanwhile, the leading conservative opposition Popular Party has called for
the bill to be thrown out altogether, arguing that it reopens old wounds.
The bill, known as the Historic Memory Law, is expected to get past an
initial vote allowing it to be processed by Parliament but it is likely to
take several months before it is finally approved.
The measure follows a growing movement in recent years by families seeking a
proper burial for thousands of relatives executed by Franco's forces and
supporters during and after the Civil War and who were buried in unmarked
graves.
On Thursday, while the reparations debate was taking place in parliament,
the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory filed a complaint at
the National Court, asking it to investigate the disappearance of 30,000
people during the Civil War and Franco's dictatorship.
The court could take weeks to decide whether to take up the case.
Both sides in the war committed atrocities, including the execution of
civilians. The conflict pitted soldiers loyal to an elected Socialist-led
government known as Republicans against rebel Nationalist troops who backed
Franco in his military uprising that ultimately toppled the government.
Franco died in 1975.
;D Viva Franco! Viva Espana! The only thing the Communists stole was part of the Spanish Treasury: they did not steal the country. Abajo las Comunistas y las Socialistas. ;D ;D