The new Memory Law, approved in committee in Congress with the support of Bildu and PNV and abstention from ERC

MADRID, 4 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Constitutional Commission of Congress has approved this Monday the Democratic Memory Law project with the support of PSOE, United We Can, the PNV and Bildu against the 'no' of the PP, Vox and Ciudadanos. The Republican Left has opted for abstention because it sees progress after the latest changes introduced, but it still seems insufficient.

This law, which represents a deepening of the 2007 Historical Memory Law, was approved in the Council of Ministers almost a year ago and taken into consideration by Congress in October 2021, but two months later it was put in 'the fridge' when The Government does not see enough support to carry it forward, since the opposition of the PP, Vox and Ciudadanos was joined by the rejection of the ERC, which considers it insufficient.

It was last June when the project was removed from the drawer to reactivate the processing, once PSOE and United We Can had approached positions with other minority formations. Thus, the Democratic Memory Law passed the presentation phase after introducing several amendments agreed with Bildu, PNV, the PDeCAT, Más País and the Canarian Coalition.

The bulk of the agreements were reached with Bildu, beginning by expanding the scope of application up to five years after the Constitution was approved. This will make it possible to recognize as victims of human rights violations up to 1983, which includes those who suffered torture or were the object of the so-called 'dirty war' against ETA until the first year of Felipe González's government.

Specifically, the law mandates the Government to create, within a year from its entry into force, a technical commission to carry out a study on alleged human rights violations against people "because of their struggle for the consolidation of democracy, the rights fundamental principles and democratic values, between the entry into force of the Constitution and December 31, 1983". That study should include "possible ways of recognizing and repairing this group."

In addition, the PSOE and United We Can also agreed with the aberztale coalition within the Council of Democratic Memory an independent state commission of an academic nature to "contribute to the clarification of human rights violations during the civil war and the dictatorship." Its function will be to collect testimonies, information and documents and approve a report of conclusions and recommendations for the reparation of the victims in an "objective and impartial" manner.

In another of the previous agreements, an amendment was introduced to declare the illegality and illegitimacy of the courts, juries and any other criminal and administrative bodies created after the 1936 coup d'état, for persecution for political or conscientious reasons. The bill already included the nullity of its resolutions and the illegitimacy of these courts that will finally be recognized as illegal.

With More Country, and the PDeCAT, the PSOE and United We Can close another agreement that declares the Franco regime "illegal" and expressly recognizes that "the struggles of anti-Franco social movements and different political actors" gave birth to democracy.

With the PDeCAT it was agreed to articulate mechanisms and resources to evaluate the cultural and linguistic "repression and persecution" of the Franco regime, declaring "victims the Basque, Catalan and Galician communities, languages ​​and cultures".

And with the PNV, another pact was sealed to set a one-year deadline for the restitution of documents or effects to natural or legal persons of a private nature that are in the General Archive of the Civil War. Parties, unions or military units that claim ensigns, emblems or flags that are in the power of public entities may also benefit.

All these agreements have allowed the Government to add sufficient support to carry out the law this Monday in the Constitutional Commission. To the 17 votes that PSOE and United We Can add up in commission, this Monday those of the PNV and Bildu have been added, which has already given them an absolute majority in the commission chaired by the socialist Patxi López.

Finally, the Republican Left has opted for abstention, because although its deputy spokesperson, Carolina Telechea, admits that there has been progress in the agreed amendments, they believe that issues such as setting a scale of economic reparations, preventing the prescription of the crimes of Francoism and repealing totally or partially the Amnesty Law of 1977, which in his opinion seals the "impunity" of the Franco regime. "It is still not possible to judge the crimes of fascism," she pointed out.

Neither Junts has wanted to give its support to the text, it has remained in abstention, considering that "nothing changes" to investigate crimes of Francoism and does not declare Catalonia as a "victim nation" of the dictatorship.

The PP, Vox, Ciudadanos and the deputy Carlos García Adanero, from Navarra Suma, who has represented the heterogeneous Mixed Group, have remained against.

Once approved by the Constitutional Commission, the opinion of the commission will be raised to the 'full broom' that is expected to be held after the Debate on the State of the Nation with the idea that it will reach the Senate this same month of July and the entire parliamentary processing in the fall.