Transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern Europe: The case of Spain in a comparative perspective

This article addresses four cases of transitional justice practised in southern Europe from 1945 to the present day: France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, to which special attention is paid. Representatives of what are considered the first and second wave of transitional justice, they have in common...

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Main Authors: Roque Moreno Fonseret, Pedro Payá López
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 2024-12-01
Series:Culture & History Digital Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cultureandhistory.revistas.csic.es/index.php/cultureandhistory/article/view/523
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author Roque Moreno Fonseret
Pedro Payá López
author_facet Roque Moreno Fonseret
Pedro Payá López
author_sort Roque Moreno Fonseret
collection DOAJ
description This article addresses four cases of transitional justice practised in southern Europe from 1945 to the present day: France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, to which special attention is paid. Representatives of what are considered the first and second wave of transitional justice, they have in common the fascist experience but the ways of facing the violent past are dissimilar due to its different national and international contexts. In France and Italy, the criminal justice, administrative purges, and economic sanctions that were applied were preceded by extra-legal repression exercised during the final phase of the war, the liberation, and the immediate postwar period in what was known as an épuration and in which the Resistance played a leading role. On the contrary, in the transitions of the late 1970s, criminal justice was applied minimally in Portugal, where administrative purges prevailed, and was non-existent in Spain, because of the Amnesty Law of 1977. Although impunity accompanied all the processes studied, the comparison reveals the singularity of the Spanish case, with a greater degree of consequence of a transition to a non-disruptive democracy with the Franco dictatorship. In the same way, in all cases, reconciliation with the past has extended into the 21st century and it has also been in Spain where it has presented the greatest difficulties.
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spelling doaj-art-0371ed76751e4a88a7e6ec3276c2cdbb2025-02-10T09:42:40ZengConsejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasCulture & History Digital Journal2253-797X2024-12-0113210.3989/chdj.2024.523Transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern Europe: The case of Spain in a comparative perspectiveRoque Moreno Fonseret 0Pedro Payá López1University of AlicanteUniversity of Alicante This article addresses four cases of transitional justice practised in southern Europe from 1945 to the present day: France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, to which special attention is paid. Representatives of what are considered the first and second wave of transitional justice, they have in common the fascist experience but the ways of facing the violent past are dissimilar due to its different national and international contexts. In France and Italy, the criminal justice, administrative purges, and economic sanctions that were applied were preceded by extra-legal repression exercised during the final phase of the war, the liberation, and the immediate postwar period in what was known as an épuration and in which the Resistance played a leading role. On the contrary, in the transitions of the late 1970s, criminal justice was applied minimally in Portugal, where administrative purges prevailed, and was non-existent in Spain, because of the Amnesty Law of 1977. Although impunity accompanied all the processes studied, the comparison reveals the singularity of the Spanish case, with a greater degree of consequence of a transition to a non-disruptive democracy with the Franco dictatorship. In the same way, in all cases, reconciliation with the past has extended into the 21st century and it has also been in Spain where it has presented the greatest difficulties. https://cultureandhistory.revistas.csic.es/index.php/cultureandhistory/article/view/523RepressionCrimes against HumanityPurificationAmnestyHistorical Memory
spellingShingle Roque Moreno Fonseret
Pedro Payá López
Transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern Europe: The case of Spain in a comparative perspective
Culture & History Digital Journal
Repression
Crimes against Humanity
Purification
Amnesty
Historical Memory
title Transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern Europe: The case of Spain in a comparative perspective
title_full Transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern Europe: The case of Spain in a comparative perspective
title_fullStr Transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern Europe: The case of Spain in a comparative perspective
title_full_unstemmed Transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern Europe: The case of Spain in a comparative perspective
title_short Transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern Europe: The case of Spain in a comparative perspective
title_sort transitional justice and impunity for fascism in southern europe the case of spain in a comparative perspective
topic Repression
Crimes against Humanity
Purification
Amnesty
Historical Memory
url https://cultureandhistory.revistas.csic.es/index.php/cultureandhistory/article/view/523
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