An International Tribunal for Franco’s Crimes?

Attempts and Failures in the 1970s

Abstract

There were few attempts to prosecute the crimes of Francoism in the 1970s, as the Spanish left had largely accepted the policy of reconciliation promoted since the 1950s, renouncing to demand accountability. However, an international tribunal for the crimes of Francoism was initiated in 1978 by the PCE(m-l). Although the initiative failed on the Peninsula, it continued its activities in exile in France and Switzerland. Based on unpublished sources, the article analyzes the roots, the actors, the objectives, and the posterity of the Tribunal by reinserting it in the global context of transnational mobilizations against human rights violations committed by States since the 1960s, which gave rise to a new type of international tribunal, that of the Russell Tribunal. Thus, it aims to contribute to clarifying on an international scale the debate on the forgetting of Franco’s responsibilities during the Spanish transition to Democracy.