On 6 October, a trial will be held in Donostia-San Sebastián to find out that warrior Txomin Letamendi was tortured

On 6 October, a court in Donostia-San Sebastián will host a historic processof"voluntary jurisdiction" promoted by the Basque Observatory for Human Rights (OVHH) and the family of Txomin Letamendi Murua. This unprecedented outbreak is intended to officially certify the death of Letamendi, 76 years later, a PNV militant and combatant under the supervision of the Franco police.

As this is a voluntary judicial procedure, the trial does not seek the criminal prosecution of the already deceased offenders, but seeks the "final confirmationand judicial certification of facts which no one questions "and which do not give rise to controversy, so that they receive the consent of a judge.

The Observatory notes that the case of Letamendi is "paradigmatic" in relation to what the phenomenon of torture and imprisonment would entail in the Spanish State for the next seven decades. Aranco was resistant to the regime and tortured in both San Sebastián and Barcelona.  He was sentenced to five years in prison in a court-martial for the crime of conspiracy to rebellion.\The physical and psychological deterioration suffered by the interrogations of the police station and the imprisonment of Guadalajara. 

Recognition and legal protection

The procedure is protected by Act No. 9/2023 of 28 September 2023 on the Historical and Democratic Memory of the Basque Country, which regulates the right to truth and reparation. The Observatory recalls the institutional recognition of Letamendi's status as a victim, and the President himself participated in the official act of recognition held in Bilbao on 22 December. 

However, at the hearing on 6 October, a final step is being taken to ensure that the facts are legally confirmed and validated by the justice system itself.

Before proceeding in this way, the ECHR filed a criminal complaint under the Democratic Memory Act, a rule that declares these crimes "imprescriptible and non-amnesty. "Examining Court No. 5 of Donostia-San Sebastián initiated an investigation into the case and the facts that were admitted to trial, without automatically supporting them under the 1977 Amnesty Act.

However, this criminal procedure was finally dismissed when it was proved that the Francoist policemen involved, Fernando Escudero and José Nogues Recio, had died, since, according to the law, when someone died, their criminal responsibility was dropped.

This decision made it clear that these crimes can be legally investigated (since proceedings were authorized to clarify what happened), which is an important precedent for the trial of torturers who are still alive today.

The case of Letamendi was also marked by institutional obstacles.  The Historical Archive of the Ministry of the Interior initially sent "documentation fullof drafts and censorship ", according to the Observatory, instead of giving its file in its entirety.

The ECHR considers it clearthatthe Spanish State "has covered up the crimes" committed under its auspices and has granted "absolute impunity" to those responsible. They denounce the fact that judges are "turning a deaf ear"to the Memory Act, which" denies the trials of Francoism "under the old Amnesty Act of 1977.

"The facts are clear: of the 155 complaints filed in the Spanish State, only seven have been admitted, of which two have been brought by the EGTC," they said.