How did u join? Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device -----Original Message----- From: Bongani Mtshweni <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 06:55:10 To: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [YCLSA Discussion] The Trial of Judge Baltasar Garzon is an Offense to All Democratic Forces in the World
cn plz sme1 unsubscribe me frm thz group#break On 1/31/12, Domza VC <[email protected]> wrote: > > Counterpunch > > > *The Trial of Judge Baltasar Garzon* > > /An Offense to All Democratic Forces in the World/ > > > *Vincent Navarro, Counterpunch, USA, 31 January 2012 * > > In 1936, a democratic government was forced to face a military coup led > by General Franco.The coup succeeded because it had the support of the > majority of the Spanish armed forces which were well-equipped and > supported by Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy.Without that > assistance, the coup would not have prevailed.The purpose of the coup > was to stop the popular reforms carried out by the democratically > elected progressive government opposed by the Church, banking community, > finance companies, large employers, armed forces, and the usual cast of > characters that became the major axis of the horrible dictatorship that > was established at that time in Spain and which lasted until 1978. > > To ensure its survival, the dictatorship required and maintained an > enormous apparatus of repression carried out by the Fascist party, La > Falange, the armed forces and the Church.For every political > assassination Mussolini ordered in Italy, Franco killed 10,000, > according to Professor Malekafis, expert in European fascism.As a result > of that fascist repression, Spain became the European country with the > largest number of people who disappeared due to political > assassinations.Even today, their families do not know where they are > buried.How can that be? > > To be able to answer that question, it is necessary to understand the > enormous limitations ofSpanish democracy (1978-2011), the outcome of a > transition from dictatorship to democracy that took place during the > period 1976-1978 under the dominance of the ultra-right wing forces that > supported and benefited from the fascist state. The transition was > based on a pact of silence, Ley de Amnistia, according to which all > political forces, including the left wing parties, had to agree not to > look at the past, that is, not to look for responsibility or > accountability for those terrible crimes committed during the fascist > dictatorship in Spain. That silence meant the disappeared persons > remained disappeared and their memory lost. > > But the grandchildren of the disappeared started asking what had > happened to their grandparents and where they were buried. They wanted > to have a tomb they could visit and bring flowers to once a year. And > they wanted to pay homage to their fight for freedom, the cause for > which they were assassinated. In this way, a popular movement began > which demanded the Spanish state (supposedly a democratic state) find > the disappeared and honor them. The state, governed then by the > socialist party, resisted any response to that demand, even though many > of the disappeared were members and sympathizers of that party in the > 30s and 40s. > > But responding to that pressure, Judge Baltasar Garzón, who had become > known internationally because of his intention to judge the dictator > Augusto Pinochet (an admirer of General Franco and trained in the > Spanish military school), started an investigation and requested the > state find the disappeared and pay homage to those whose bodies had not > yet been found. Judge Garzón soon discovered the numbers were much > higher than previously believed. The numbers started with 30,000 and by > the end of 2008 they had increased to 152,000. And still the numbers > continue to grow. People began to lose their fear and came out publicly > with the names of their dead, proving they had been assassinated, but > not knowing where they had been killed and where their bodies were. It > soon became a mass phenomenon and the numbers grew so large that many > believe the killings of the disappeared could be referred to as genocide. > > As predicted, the right wing forces and some voices within the left > immediately mobilized, accusing Judge Garzón of not respecting the Ley > de Amnistia that was supposed to have put to rest any possibility of > judging these crimes. And none other than La Falange, the fascist > party, still legal in Spain, and other allied forces brought Judge > Garzón to the Supreme Court to stand trial. The Supreme Court accepted > the legal arguments and recently started proceedings against Judge Garzón. > > A few days ago, January 24, this judge had to sit in front of the > Supreme Court for daring to ask the Spanish state to find and honor the > disappeared ones and find those responsible for their killings. It > started a process unique in Europe at this time where a judge defending > human rights, freedom and democracy is put on trial for upholding the > honor and dignity of democratic forces. This trial is an offense to all > democratic persons in the world and a mobilization of protest should > occur worldwide against what is occurring in Spain at this time. > > * /VINCENT NAVARRO, Professor of Public Policy, The Johns Hopkins > University. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the > Politics of Illusion > <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1849351104/counterpunchmaga>, > forthcoming > from AK Press. / > > > *From: > http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/31/the-trial-of-judge-baltasar-garzon/* > > > > > ** > > -- > You are subscribed. This footer can help you. > Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to > this message. > You can visit the group WEB SITE at > http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery > options, pages, files and membership. > To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . > You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to > put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to > this address (repeat): [email protected] . > -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
