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6 Interdisc. J. Hum. Rts. L. 41 (2011-2012)
Impunity for Enforced Disappearances in Contemporary Spain: The Spanish Search for Truth

handle is hein.journals/ijhrl6 and id is 43 raw text is: IMPUNITY FOR ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN CONTEMPORARY SPAIN The Spanish Search for Truth Ursula Urdillo* More than 35 years after Franco's death, Spain has yet to live up to its international obligations to provide redress for victims of atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil War and Franco's dictatorial regime. Although there are no official figures, investigations by victims' associations estimate 114,266 people are still disappeared as a consequence of these atrocities. Recent demands by victims for truth, justice, and reparation have opened up a new era of transition in Spain, which includes government initiatives for the redress of victims and the recovery of collective memory through the Historical Memory Law of 2007. Yet these initiatives are insufficient for victims to realize the rights they are guaranteed under international law, in particular those recognized in the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Disturbingly, the only judge who established a basis on which to investigate the disappearances perpetrated during the Civil War and the dictatorship has been recently suspended in connection with his pronouncement on this court case. These developments serve to undermine attempts at reconciliation and victims'justice, and to highlight the extent to which the Spanish political elite and the judiciary are still indelibly connected with the past. Keywords: Enforced disappearance, historical memory, Spanish Civil War, Francisco Franco, truth seeking, impunity, redress I. INTRODUCTION It seems appropriate that the Fuente Grande, sung by the Islamic poets of Granada, should continue to bubble up its clear waters close to the last resting place of the greatest poet ever born in this part of Spain. For it was here, just before reaching the pool, that the killers shot their victims, leaving their bodies beside an olive grove on the right-hand side of the road coming from Viznar. A few moments later the gravedigger arrived. . . . The lad immediately recognized the bullfighters, noticed not without surprise that another of the victims had a wooden leg, and observed that the last one wore a loose tie, you know, the sort artists wear. He buried them in a narrow trench, on top of each other, beside an olive tree. When he returned to the Colonia they told him that the man with the wooden leg was a schoolteacher from a nearby village, and the other one with the loose tie was the poet Federico Garcia Lorca.1 *LL.M. Irish Centre for Human Rights (Galway), 2010. The author wishes to express her appreciation to Dr. Shane Darcy for his advice and support. Earnest gratitude is extended to

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