Unearthing the Truth: The Politics of Exhumations in Cyprus and Spain

Contrary to the experience of other countries with memories of clandestine violence and “missing persons”, where the mobilisation of the (civil) society towards “truth recovery” was immediate and pivotal, the societies of Cyprus and Spain remained silent for a remarkably long period of time. This article aspires to explain the reasons why both Cypriot communities and the Spanish society did not manage, until recently, to comprehensively address—not to mention resolve—the problem of “missing persons”. The recent emergence of the “politics of exhumations” in these two countries, which highlight issues related to truth recovery and collective memory, renders the attempt to respond to the question of why these processes are taking place only today even more stimulating

Suite du recueil de pièces concernant les exhumations faites dans l'enceite de l'église de S. Eloy de la villa de Dunkerque... /

Encuadernado con: Dissertations sur l'organe de l'ouie.

Réflexions sur les dangers des exhumations précipitées et sur le abus de inhumations dans les Eglises : : suivies d'Observation sur les plantations d'arbres dans les cimetieres /

Mode of access: Internet.

Explaining Prolonged Silences in Transitional Justice: The Disappeared in Cyprus and Spain

The article examines why some postconflict societies defer the recovery of those who forcibly disappeared as a result of political violence, even after a fully fledged democratic regime is consolidated. The prolonged silences in Cyprus and Spain contradict the experience of other countries such as Bosnia, Guatemala, and South Africa, where truth recovery for disappeared or missing persons was a central element of the transition to peace and democracy. Exhumations of mass graves containing the victims from the two periods of violence in Cyprus (1963–1974) and the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) was delayed up until the early 2000s. Cyprus and Spain are well suited to explain both prolonged silences in transitional justice and the puzzling decision to become belated truth seekers. The article shows that in negotiated transitions, a subtle elite agreement links the non-instrumental use of the past with the imminent needs for political stability and nascent democratization. As time passes, selective silence becomes an entrenched feature of the political discourse and democratic institutions, acquiring a hegemonic status and prolonging the silencing of violence.

De-linkage Processes and Grassroots Movements in Transitional Justice

Transitional justice literature has highlighted a negative relationship between enforced disappearances and reconciliation in post-conflict settings. Little attention has been paid to how human rights issues can become stepping-stones to reconciliation. The article explains the transformation of the Cypriot Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) from an inoperative body into a successful humanitarian forum, paving the way for the pro-rapprochement bi-communal grassroots mobilization of the relatives of the missing. By juxtaposing the experience of Cyprus with other societies confronting similar problems, the article shows how the issue of the missing can become a driving force for reconciliation. The findings indicate that a policy delinking humanitarian exhumations from the prospect of a wider political settlement facilitates positive transformation in protracted human rights problems and opens up a window of opportunity to grassroots actors.

Delaying Truth Recovery for Missing Persons

The fate of missing persons is a central issue in post-conflict societies facing truth recovery and human rights dilemmas. Despite widespread public sympathy towards relatives, societies emerging from conflict often defer the recovery of missing for decades. More paradoxically, in post-1974 Cyprus, the official authorities delayed unilateral exhumations of victims buried within cemeteries in their own jurisdiction. Analysis of official post-1974 discourse reveals a Greek-Cypriot consensus to emphasise the issue as one of Turkish aggression, thus downplaying in-group responsibilities and the legacy of intra-communal violence. We compare the experience of Cyprus with other post-conflict societies such as Spain, Northern Ireland, and Mozambique and explore the linkages between institutions and beliefs about transitional justice. We argue that elite consensus initiates and facilitates the transition to democracy but often leads to the institutionalization of groups opposing truth recovery even for in-group members.

"Historias olvidadas en las cunetas" : Entrevista con Adriana Fernández, integrante de la Plataforma Argentina de Apoyo a la Querella contra los Crímenes del Franquismo

El proceso de exhumación de los restos de Antonio Fernández, joven asesinado en 1936 en España, es el tema de Las cunetas, de Bodo Marks y Shelina Islam. Una experiencia de presentación y proyección de este documental motivó una entrevista con Adriana Fernández, nieta de Antonio e integrante de la Plataforma Argentina de Apoyo a la Querella contra los Crímenes del Franquismo. Sus respuestas, en diálogo con el material mencionado, constituyen un relato que convoca lo verbal y lo visual de una experiencia de búsqueda transatlántica de verdad y justicia

"Historias olvidadas en las cunetas" : Entrevista con Adriana Fernández, integrante de la Plataforma Argentina de Apoyo a la Querella contra los Crímenes del Franquismo

El proceso de exhumación de los restos de Antonio Fernández, joven asesinado en 1936 en España, es el tema de Las cunetas, de Bodo Marks y Shelina Islam. Una experiencia de presentación y proyección de este documental motivó una entrevista con Adriana Fernández, nieta de Antonio e integrante de la Plataforma Argentina de Apoyo a la Querella contra los Crímenes del Franquismo. Sus respuestas, en diálogo con el material mencionado, constituyen un relato que convoca lo verbal y lo visual de una experiencia de búsqueda transatlántica de verdad y justicia

"Historias olvidadas en las cunetas" : Entrevista con Adriana Fernández, integrante de la Plataforma Argentina de Apoyo a la Querella contra los Crímenes del Franquismo

El proceso de exhumación de los restos de Antonio Fernández, joven asesinado en 1936 en España, es el tema de Las cunetas, de Bodo Marks y Shelina Islam. Una experiencia de presentación y proyección de este documental motivó una entrevista con Adriana Fernández, nieta de Antonio e integrante de la Plataforma Argentina de Apoyo a la Querella contra los Crímenes del Franquismo. Sus respuestas, en diálogo con el material mencionado, constituyen un relato que convoca lo verbal y lo visual de una experiencia de búsqueda transatlántica de verdad y justicia

Traité de médecine légale /

En el T. 4: Traité des exhumations juridiques par M. Orfila et M. O. Lesueur.

Musée des monumens français, ou Description historique et chronologique des statues en marbre et en bronze, bas-reliefs et tombeaux des hommes et des femmes célèbres, pour servir à l'histoire de France et à celle de l'art; ornée de gravures; et augm. d'une dissertation sur les costumes de chaque siècle;

"Notes historiques sur les exhumations faites on 1793, dans l'Abbaye de Saint-Denis": v. 2, p. [cvi]-cxxxii.

Traité de médecine légale.

2d ed. has title: Leçons de médecine légale.