Abstract
The recent exhumation of mass graves from the Spanish Civil War and the Post-War years, mostly involving the largely abandoned graves of the Francoist rearguard, have become a central element in contemporary debates about the conflict and the regime following it. In this paper, the complexity and dynamism of this process is analysed, including from political and legal initiatives of great social and media impact to local actions on the ground, at times failed, ephemeral or almost imperceptible, but no less crucial. From the point of view of many of the people involved in the pro-exhumation associations, opening up the graves is part of a basic exercise in justice and ‘dignification’, showing the scope and systematic nature of repression while reverting the ‘infrahuman’ disposition of the executed corpses, a feeling crystallised in the common expression ‘thrown’ or ‘buried like dogs’, used very often to justify the need of carrying out exhumations. Politics of dignification and ‘rehumanization’ of these ‘incorrectly’ buried bodies are incorporating, in the last few months, elements drawn from international law, such as the concept of ‘crimes against humanity’.
Highlights
From the point of view of many of the people involved in the pro-exhumation associations, opening up the graves is part of a basic exercise in justice and ‘dignification’, showing the scope and systematic nature of repression while reverting the ‘infrahuman’ disposition of the executed corpses, a feeling crystallised in the common expression ‘thrown’ or ‘buried like dogs’, used very often to justify the need of carrying out exhumations
Politics of dignification and ‘rehumanization’ of these ‘incorrectly’ buried bodies are incorporating, in the last few months, elements drawn from international law, such as the concept of ‘crimes against humanity’
Madrid: Temas de Hoy. Vinyes, R., M
Summary
Grupo de Investigación Antropología Comparada de España y América ACEA. Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. RESUMEN Las exhumaciones de fosas comunes de la Guerra Civil española y la posguerra de la última década, muy especialmente de fosas abandonadas de la retaguardia franquista, se han colocado en un lugar central de los debates contemporáneos sobre la naturaleza y alcance de la contienda y el régimen que surgió de ella. Se analiza la complejidad y dinamismo del proceso, que incluye desde iniciativas políticas y judiciales de enorme proyección pública y mediática, como la Ley de la Memoria o el contro-. Las políticas de dignificación o ‘rehumanización’ de estos muertos mal enterrados están incorporando en los últimos meses elementos provenientes del derecho transnacional, como el concepto de ‘crímenes contra la humanidad’. Palabras clave: Antropología de la Violencia y el Sufrimiento Social; Fosas Comunes; Desapariciones; Políticas de Dignificación; Políticas de la Memoria; Justicia Transnacional; Guerra Civil española
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