The shame and humiliation towards the victims goes beyond billy the kid. Several CCOO foundations have sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaskain which they offer a list with the names of 24 police officers of the Social Political Brigade that they were accused of torture and that, as they have been able to prove, they have medals and other rewards.
“González Pacheco, who is often referred to by his nickname ‘Billy the Kid’, has had a great impact in the media. But, Minister, you are fully aware that González Pacheco was no exception“, says the letter sent by different entities belonging to CCOO.
Among the signatories are the 1 de Mayo Foundation, the Jesús Pereda Foundation of Castilla y León, the Juan Muñiz Zapico Foundation of Asturias, the Foundation for Social and Labor Studies and Initiatives (FEIS) of the Valencian Country, the Ateneo CCOO Baleares Foundation, the Ateneo 1 de Mayo in Madrid, the Fundación Sindicalismo y Cultura de Aragón and the Fundación Estudios Sindicales y Cooperación de Andalucía.
In this document, the organizations offer a list with 24 names of police officers belonging to the Social Political Brigade “whose tortures are accredited and who, according to the investigations promoted from the archives of the CCOO foundations, have received medals and other rewards.”
“The torture practiced by these officials in a systemic way, not only
was directed against a specific population group, but was carried out in contexts of structural political violence. Suffice it to remember in this sense, the violence unleashed by the state security forces and bodies on the occasion of the different states of emergency,” they underline.
Among the officials cited are Ricardo Algar Barrón, Manuel Ballesteros García, Francisco Beltrán Ortiz, José Blanco Martín, Roberto Conesa Pérez, Félix Criado Santos or Conrado Delso.
Ex officio procedures
At the end of December, the Ministry of Interior announced that, by virtue of the Democratic Memory Law, he had ordered the withdrawal of the decorations that he still retains Juan Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco, Known as Billy the Kid.
The portfolio directed by Marlaska ordered that the general directorates of the National Police and of the Civil Guard “begin the ex officio procedures to review and withdraw the police decorations and rewards that agents of both forces may have received in the past who had been part of the repression apparatus of the Franco dictatorship or carried out acts incompatible with democratic values and guiding principles protection of human rights established by the Spanish constitution“, according to a statement.
Police sources then advanced that there are seven identified cases, four related to civil guards and three to national police. In this sense, the letter sent by the CCOO foundations highlights that the number of winners actually exceeds twenty, for which reason they demand that ex officio action be taken in all these cases.
