Paul de Greiff, the United Nations rapporteur, showed his surprise at his visit last February to the Spanish State in favor of the victims of the 1936 War. In addition, he called for a “State policy” towards the disappeared and their families so that the treatment given to the victims does not conform to the electoral results. It also called for the suspension of the consequences of the 1977 Amnesty Act, which has so far had the function of giving the key to the few cases that have come to court and which, in relation to the Argentine complaint against the crimes of Franco, Spain has to cooperate internationally.

After the 1936 uprising, Falangists and Carlists killed 3,400 people in Navarra. About a thousand corpses are still missing in the ditches even though 75 years have passed since the end of the war. The work carried out by the Association of Shot, Killed and Missing Persons in Navarre has largely enabled the recent approval by the Parliament of Navarre of the Law on Historical Memory or the opening of the Parque de la Memoria de Sartagudo, known as “the people of widows”. On behalf of Ioseba Eceolaza, 2014 can be decisive for the victims of the 1936 War in Navarre to finally obtain their recognition.

Are the people who suffered the consequences of the war taking a long time to confess?

Democracy had to have removed the legitimacy of Franco long before. To recognize the dignity of the shot and their families, in the Transition we lost a golden opportunity. It is amazing to see how in 2014 family members and members of associations should search for bodies thrown into the ditches using their time and effort. Not having a concrete policy of Historical Memory is very significant. It reflects the quality of our society, our institutions and our democracy. A society that normally lives the disappearance of many scientists since the Civil War, both in Spain and in Navarre, should ask some questions.

In the recovery of the Historical Report, how has the Government of Navarra acted?

It has shown a contradictory attitude. They abstained from the Historical Memory Act, but they are being complied with. They also abstained in the construction of the Sartagudo Memory Park, which had a support of 150,000 euros. More than 90 municipalities throughout Navarre supported the Memory Park, and in some of them UPN ruled by an absolute majority, such as Pamplona/Iruña and Tudela. Of course, it is not merit of UPN. It is the triumph of the movement in favor of the Historical Memory. Their relatives have long resisted and have been very successful in constructing a discourse based on ethics, human rights and sensitivity to convince society and institutions.

In the Spanish State, it seems that a step backwards is being taken in the recovery of memory.

The first Historical Memory Act was passed in 2007, and although limited, it has been the subject of many criticisms, it was a remarkable advance over time. It meant normalizing the topic of Historical Memory and offering us financial resources to do our toughest job: to search for the missing and to recover their bodies. When the People’s Party regained power, aid was cut off, and if the bodies are now taken out of the land, it is thanks to the work of the volunteers, with the money provided by the association’s partners. This deserves consideration: Spain, behind Cambodia, is the country with the most disappearances in the world.

At the international level, it seems that steps are being taken, as in the case of the complaint against the crimes of Franco in Argentina.

A delegation from our association went to the Embassy of Argentina in Madrid to participate in the case. More than a legal debate, we consider it important to report that the current political system must definitively delegitimize Franco. And to do so, it is very important to understand that those who murdered, tortured and kidnapped people cannot have impunity. They are crimes against humanity. In a small territory such as Navarre, and to think otherwise, the murders have resulted in 3,400 people. And that's what we need to give him judicial treatment.

In order to analyse violence, we must use the prisms of truth, justice and reparation. We know the truth through the family and the academic environment. Reparation is being carried out gradually both in the municipalities and in the autonomous communities and also in the Spanish Government. It is justice that is being held hostage.

Pp spokesmen say they want revenge.

This criticism was more common in 2002, when we started. Now, that criticism is barely put on the table, because it has been seen that we are making a peaceful claim to the Historical Memory, that we are talking from an ethical point of view. These days the Municipal Police of Sevilla are looking for the mortal remains of the young Sevillian Marta del Castillo. Unfortunately, his family knows he's dead. But they need to find the remains. It's the only way that grief closes properly. The same is true of us. It's not fair for a person, for 78 years, to have to ask where their relative is. Much of society understands that our demands are reasonable, acceptable.

In the short term, what is your challenge?

The Historical Memory Act should put an end to the chapters that should be closed 35 years ago. Removing the Francoist symbology, changing the treatment given in education to the War of 1936, supporting the groups that work for the Historical Memory... When there is a will to comply with this law, we can say that our society has taken an important step, which has proved ethical and political maturity. The law says that the Government of Navarra has an obligation to exhume the corpses and makes it possible to create a DNA bank, which will work together with the Navarro Institute of Legal Medicine. 2014 can be the most important year of Historical Memory.