After 6 years of struggle in the Spanish courts and more than 100 criminal complaints filed denouncing crimes against humanity committed by Franco's dictatorship, the Julio Pacheco<\/strong> was the only one in which, after being admitted for processing, the defendants were summoned as investigators and statements were taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One year later, the same judge has proceeded to close the case due to the statute of limitations, in accordance with the content of Order 57\/2024 issued by the Plenary of the Constitutional Court. In this order, the judicial channel was closed in the Spanish courts of another lawsuit for crimes of torture during the Franco dictatorship, filed by Francisco Ventura Losada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Constitutional Court, in the Order that has led to the case of Julio Pacheco being closed, considers that the current Law of Democratic Memory does not replace this Court in the interpretation of fundamental rights and that its articles are insufficient and do not enable it to investigate Franco's crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, the Constitutional Court considers that the content of Article 2.3 of the Law of Democratic Memory, insofar as it establishes that \u201call the laws of the Spanish State, including Law 46\/1977, of 15 October, on Amnesty, shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with conventional and customary international law and, in particular, with International Humanitarian Law, according to which war crimes, genocide and torture are considered to be imprescriptible and not amnestiable, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture are considered to be imprescriptible and not subject to amnesty\u201d, is not sufficient for the rules of international criminal law to become a direct or indirect source of criminal law for investigating and judging acts that were not criminalised in the State criminal law in force at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From CEAQUA, Amnesty International, Iridia and Sira, we express our most absolute disagreement and absolute rejection of the content of the Court Order issued by the 50th Court of Instruction of Madrid, which based on the content of the Constitutional Court Order 57\/2024, consolidates a model of impunity unacceptable in a State of Law and undermines and infringes, once again, the most elementary rights of those who suffered Franco's crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The corresponding appeal has been lodged with the Provincial Court of Madrid against the order issued by the 50th Preliminary Examining Court of Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In any case, there is no doubt that with the content of these rulings it is more necessary than ever that both the executive and legislative powers immediately get down to work to promote all appropriate legislative measures to reverse the impunity of Franco's crimes, as it has become clear that the Law of Democratic Memory passed in 2022 is insufficient for this purpose. With the dismissal of the case brought by Julio Pacheco, all the lawsuits filed after the entry into force of this law have been inadmissible and\/or dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Responsibility for maintaining this framework of impunity is shared by all three branches of government and it is no use focusing solely and exclusively on the judiciary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a time when regional initiatives are being promoted in Spain that curtail the effective rights of the victims of Franco's crimes, it is necessary to give a forceful response in the form of the promotion and approval of legislative measures that enable the criminal investigation of these crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once again, we would like to remind you that, among other things, it is essential for this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reform of the Penal Code, among other aspects, of the definitions of torture and enforced disappearance from an international law perspective. These two legislative measures, promoted at the time by CEAQUA, were rejected by the legislature by a large majority. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to take them up again in order to proceed to their approval. From CEAQUA<\/a>, Amnesty International<\/a>, Iridia<\/a> and Sira will continue to work in this direction, we will continue to demand criminal justice and we will challenge in all appropriate instances the judicial decisions handed down by the courts and tribunals of the Spanish State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" La Jueza tom\u00f3 declaraci\u00f3n al querellante y la testigo Rosa Mar\u00eda Garc\u00eda Alc\u00f3n el 15 de septiembre de 2023, siendo un hecho de gran excepcionalidad al ser la primera vez que v\u00edctimas del franquismo declaraban en los juzgados espa\u00f1oles. La Ley de Memoria Democr\u00e1tica aprobada en el a\u00f1o 2022 sigue siendo insuficiente para acabar con […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad","category-memoria-historica"],"yoast_head":"\n![](\"https:\/\/centrosira.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ROSA-JULIO-FRANQUISMO-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nJulio Pacheco and Rosa Garc\u00eda at the exit of the Courts. Sira Centre<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![](\"https:\/\/centrosira.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC00943-2048x1365-1.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRally in support of the plaintiffs, Julio Pacheco and Rosa Garc\u00eda. Sira Centre<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n