He second vice-president of the government of Castile-La Mancha, José Manuel Caballerowho visited the municipal cemetery of La Roda, where the graves are exhumed as part of a Democratic Memory project financed by the Regional Government, conveyed to the association which carries it out and to the families the commitment of the Executive regional to provide the necessary resources to carry out genetic testing.
“The objective is that we can go all the way in the identification and ensure a dignified burial,” said Caballero, who explained that the regional government is committed to guaranteeing burial in the same space or in the place claimed by their relatives.
The first phase of investigation, investigation and delimitation of this project has been completed and the exhumation phase and laboratory anthropological identification study has begun.
Studies carried out in archives and through oral testimonies concluded that there were a total of 54 people executed.to which are added 16 people who died in prison, for a total of 70 bodies.
They confirmed that two mass graves were opened, including one in the civil part, perfectly demarcated; and another with the Catholic, whose location is not entirely precise. This work is included in the agreement between the Government of Castile-La Mancha and UCLM.
The second vice-president, who according to the Regional Executive was accompanied by the mayor of the city, Juan Ramón Amores; the president of the Provincial Delegation of Albacete, Santiago Cabañero; and the president of the Memory Association of La Roda and the region, Carmen Parreño; as well as several professionals who work on the project and with the families of the victims, he recognized the work of the families of the victims and the memorial groups and associations, “who have gone ahead of the administrations”.
“I want to recognize the association because after so many years and so much work, you have achieved the goal you set for yourself and it is an example of how civil society often gets ahead of institutions in such a claim just this one,” he said.
“This goes beyond ideologies or sensitivities, which is why from the Government of Castile-La Mancha “We approach everything related to democratic memory from the point of view of human rights,” he stressed.
“There was a violation of the human rights of certain people at a specific moment in our history and it is our democratic responsibility to study it, recognize it and disclose it because we have an obligation of justice, dignity, of reparation and commitment so that this will not happen again”, defended
After ensuring that the recovery of bodies is a work that contributes to “this dignity that all human beings have to rest in a dignified place and that it is also right that we do it with public funds”, he added that “it is justice” which public administrations with public budgets are those which dedicate themselves to this objective.
Finally, he expressed his desire to the mayor, the association and relatives to tackle the memorial dignity of the tombs. “We could create a monument or any other type of memorial which recalls that here a series of bodies were murdered for having thought differently, for having felt the desire for freedom and democracy and, without a doubt, for their commitment to of social justice. “, he concluded.
For his part, the president of Provincial Council of Albacete He described the experience as “bittersweet”, explaining that, on the one hand, it is “shocking” to see the bodies of people who fought “for freedom and for current legality”, whose only crime was to have ideals and to defend this legality. People who, he stressed, were not only murdered, but also did not receive a decent burial.
But he also highlighted the positive side of the moment: “Today we are witnessing an act of justice,” he stressed, while recognizing that, probably, “it should have happened earlier.”
A delay in the recovery of these victims which, in a certain way, meant that they were “killed several times”: first by shooting, then “with the imposition of a cruel forgetfulness which prevented their families to honor their memory. “for decades.”
According to the Provincial Institution, the process of exhuming La Roda, like others similar in the province, is part of a broader plan to recover the democratic memory of those who fought for freedom and democracy.
In the province of Albacete, 22 mass graves have been identifiedof which only three are completely exhumed: those of Alcaraz, Chinchilla and Almansa.
Cabañero stressed that this project in La Roda, currently underway, is a step closer to historical justice, but warned that “there is still much to exhume.” A work that remains to be done, both in the recovery of the bodies and in the recovery of the memories of these people.
It is for this reason that he expressed the commitment of the Provincial Delegation of Albacete and assured that the institution would continue to support the municipalities and the Government of Castile-La Mancha in this task.
He finished by emphasizing that this effort aims not only to recover the bodies, but also to restore the memory of “those who were silenced for so many years.”
