People: María Romilda Servini de Cubrìa
An Argentinian Judge who attempted to indite and prosecute those responsible for heinous criminal acts during the Franco Dictatorship by invoking the law of Universal Justice …
An extraordinary woman…
I have read of the human right abuses during Franco’s rule, with sustained horror, disgust and disbelief. The well documented abuses include forced labor, torture, mass executions, kidnapping of babies and children, genocide, gruesome intolerable prison conditions and death camps. It is estimated that 280,000 were imprisoned, 100,000 gone/disappeared without a trace, and an untold number executed during Franco’s 36 year reign of terror. Then it is estimated that ~350,000 perished fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
Why, for what? Franco’s ultimate goal was to dominate Spain by exerting absolute control over the entire country. His authoritarian regime fought to create a country of extremist right wing values, a cleansing society, repression of all liberal ideas, thoughts and actions...including art, theater, literature, religion and culture. Franco exerted complete control of the media, smothering all opposing political views. He repressed the Catalan and Basque people declaring it forbidden for them to speak their native language and engage in their cultural heritage. To this goal all activities unique to their rich history and culture were strictly banned and harshly punished. This went on for 36 years, from the end of the Spanish Civil war in 1939 to Franco’s death in November of 1975, when Spain finally began the gradual transition to democracy.
In the process of reading about this time in Spanish history I happened upon the documentary, “The Silence of Others”, and took a deep breath. This compelling and haunting documentary was filmed over six years by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar. It tells the story of the groundbreaking Argentinian Lawsuit brought by Judge Maria Romilda Servini de Cubria to bring equity and justice for the elderly survivors, their families and the parents and grandparents of stolen children and babies during Spain’s painful Franco regime. This documentary very richly, honestly and rawly follows the long and arduous struggle for families of the victims to find justice. It highlights the continual longing and hope to find, claim and bring their lost loved ones home, who had been executed and discarded into unmarked mass graves. These families longed to give their loved ones a burial with dignity and a permanent resting place. The film also features the investigation into stolen newborns/infants and children who were taken for political and/or social reasons. They were often given to prosperous Catholic families of the Franco regime to claim as their own.This is where Judge Maria Servini de Cubria weaves into this post Franco narrative.
Judge María Romilda Servini de Cubria was born in 1936, in the city of San Nicolás de los Arroyos, located in the northern Province of Buenos Aires in Argentina. She grew up in what would be considered today an upper middle class Argentinian family. Other than this, I was unable to access much more information on her childhood in San Nicolás, except that as a child she was affectionately nicknamed “Chuchi”, which means something like “cutie pie” in English. I learned that after graduating from Polimodal (High School), she attended the University of Buenos Aires, one of the most prestigious Universities in Argentina, having educated 17 Argentine Presidents, and 4 Nobel Prize Laureates. She then married, had her first son and spent 2 years in Rio de Janeiro per her husbands position as Military Attache. On her return to Argentina she resumed her studies, had a second son and subsequently went on to finish her law degree. She began her judicial career in the entry level position known as,“Official Defender”, and from there she had a long, interesting and notable work journey that eventually led to her appointment in 1990 as National Judge in the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court of Buenos Aires. Fast forward to ~2013, when in her role as a Federal Judge, in Argentina, she heroically agreed to bring a Lawsuit on behalf of the Franco victims and surviving family members. The lawsuit was based on seeking justice for multiple crimes during Franco’s rule, that included torture, genocide, gross criminal acts, and the kidnapping of babies and children. This was to become known as the Argentinian Lawsuit, made possible under International Law, also known as The Law of Nations and the principle of Universal Jurisdiction. This allows foreign courts to pursue and prosecute a multitude of serious crimes against humanity, such as war crimes, genocide and torture, if the country where the crimes occurred refuse to investigate and prosecute. This law transcends all borders, thankfully, and this is how Judge Servini enters into the realm of Spain’s very painful, ugly past and the struggle of the post Franco victims and their famillies for justice.
A courageous band of Spain’s seniors/elderly worked successfully to enlist the support of Argentinian Judge Servini to accept their case to bring justice to bear for Franco’s victims via Argentina, under the law of Universal Justice. They hoped she would be able to overturn Spain’s Amnesty Law of 1977. This law guaranteed a pardon for all those who participated in heinous crimes against humanity committed during Franco’s Spanish Civil War, thus freeing the political prisoners of Franco’s regime and allowing those exiled to return home unscathed. In essence, this law had prevented justice to be served for the victims, full stop. The United Nations repeatedly urged Spain to repeal this law, arguing that it does not apply to crimes against humanity, but unfortunately they failed, and today this law remains in place.
Judge Maria Romilda Servini de Cubría, persuaded by the Spanish families of victims and survivors of Franco’s rule, constructed a legal Spanish challenge from Argentina under International Law. The hope was a pathway would be open to seek justice for the crimes against humanity committed during Franco’s reign. Judge Servini courageously agreed to represent the Spanish survivors and victims and goes forward to extradite the notorious “Billy the Kid” - Antonio Ganzalez Pacheco - to be tried in Argentina for his heinous crimes during Franco’s rule. This was one hard fought victory. Unfortunately, this was not to be. Spain was unwilling to extradite Pacheco, citing the statute of limitations had been reached. So although Judge Servini zealously agrees to bring justice through International Law and Universal Jurisdiction, on behalf of the victims and families, in most cases it was thwarted by Spain’s refusal to extradite.
In closng…through the efforts of Judge Servini and the brave band of elders, the atrocities of the Franco regime were brought into the naked light of day. The victory here was that it made it possible for all the world to absorb and reflect upon the horrors and brutalities born of the Spanish Civil War . That in itself should be considered a victory.
“Men of my generation have had Spain in their hearts…it was there that they learned…that one can be right and yet be beaten, that force can vanquish spirit, and that there are times when courage is not rewarded.” - Albert Camus
