ARGENTINA VICTIMS DEMAND THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FRANCO DICTATORSHIP Rodolfo Martín Villa and others Context Ongoing proceedings in Argentina against former Spanish officials and other actors of the Franco dictatorship for alleged serious crimes under international law committed in Spain between 1936 and 1977 Suspects Former Spanish officials and other actors of the Franco dictatorship (including González Pacheco, former police officer; Jesús Muñecas Aguilar, former captain of the Civil Guard; and former government minister, Rodolfo Martín Villa) Country of residence of suspects Spain Charges Crimes against humanity, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances Current status Under investigation Developments in 2018 On 21 June 2018, the Argentinian Federal Tribunal allowed two victims to join the proceedings against former Spanish officials and other actors of the Franco dictatorship. The first applicant, Ruben Amor Benedicto Salmerón, is the grandson of the disappeared José Salmerón Céspedes who was forcibly disappeared, tortured, and executed in 1936 in Tetouan, then part of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco. The applicant demanded the exhumation of his grandfather’s remains, which he believes are buried in the European cemetery of Tetouan. The second case relates to Gustavo Adolfo Muñoz de Bustillo, a 16-yearold executed on 11 September 1978, during violent riots in the transitional period in Barcelona. Judge María Servini de Cubría had first rejected the case as it happened after the 1977 elections that ousted Franco. On 22 October 2018, the Spanish National Court (Audiencia Nacional, Sala de lo Penal) denied the request from the Argentinian judge María Servini de Cubría to come to Spain to hear Rodolfo Martín Villa, as part of the international rogatory commission issued in September 2017. The Spanish judge argued that the crimes are prescribed; and executing the international rogatory commission would violate the 1977 amnesty law. On 26 October 2018, Judge María Servini de Cubría admitted the complaint filed two years ago by the NGO Women’s Link Worldwide on behalf of six women repressed by the dictatorship. The investigation will examine cases of sexual assault, murder, forced abortion, and the theft of children under Franco’s regime. Procedure in Spain In December 2006, the Spanish investigating judge, Baltasar Garzón, opened an investigation into allegations of crimes against humanity committed during the Franco dictatorship. In October 2008, he ruled that the 1977 Spanish law granting amnesty for crimes committed during the Franco dictatorship did not apply, owing to the nature of the crimes. 13 However, the Supreme Court overturned this decision, while Judge Baltasar Garzón was put on trial for prevarication for his alleged unfair interpretation of the amnesty law. He was finally acquitted but the amnesty law remains applicable, and the crimes committed by the Franco dictatorship cannot be investigated or prosecuted in Spain. Procedure in Argentina On 14 April 2010, Spanish and Argentinian human rights organizations filed a criminal complaint with the Argentinian investigating judge Servini de Cubría on behalf of Spanish victims. On 18 September 2013, the Argentinian judge issued arrest warrants against four former officials of the Franco dictatorship (including González Pacheco and Jesús Muñecas Aguilar) and requested their extradition in order to stand trial for crimes against humanity, including acts of torture, allegedly committed in Spain between July 1936 and June 1977. On 24 April 2014, the Spanish National Court (Audiencia Nacional, Sala de lo Penal) rejected an extradition request issued on 18 September 2013 by Judge Servini de Cubría against González Pacheco and Jesús Muñecas Aguilar.