SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 30 Aug (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister for the Presidency, Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Canary Islands Government, Nieves Lady Barreto, presided over the inaugural event this Friday to honour the victims of forced disappearances of minors during the dictatorship and the early years of democracy. This event was held in accordance with the stipulations of Canarian law concerning stolen minors (Law 13/2019, of 25 April), which designates 30 August as the Day of Remembrance for Stolen Minors and their Families.
Accompanied by Candelaria Delgado, the Minister for Social Welfare, Equality, Youth, Children and Families, Barreto read a manifesto affirming that the abduction of minors constitutes a breach of a fundamental human right: “the right of every individual to know their own parentage and true identity, concepts intrinsically linked to dignity and the unfettered development of personality.”
“In the ongoing effort to build a robust and wholly inclusive democracy, we must not progress while neglecting the fact that we owe a debt to the victims and their families. Today marks the first occasion we gather to prevent forgetting, to demonstrate our commitment to remedy the profound harm inflicted and to draw lessons from the past to ensure it is not repeated,” explained Nieves Lady Barreto in a statement issued by the Ministry.
Consequently, in memory and tribute to the victims of forced disappearances, the Government of the Canary Islands, along with the associations and groups that comprise the Canary Islands Commission for the Right to Identity and the Commission for Historical Memory, is dedicated to acknowledging and rectifying the harm caused.
The event was also attended by representatives from the Colectivo Sin Identidad, who, via their spokesperson Jorge Rodríguez, underscored the significance of the day, “as it signifies our commitment to bringing an end to one of the most harrowing chapters in the recent history of the Canary Islands.”
“At last, the administration and the organisations representing these individuals, many of whom are irrevocably lost within the labyrinth of undesired lives, will collaborate in a unified manner,” he remarked.
Concluding the event, the spokesperson for the Collective without Identity presented Councillor Nieves Lady Barreto with a sculpture entitled ‘The Voids’, intended to symbolise the visibility, solace, and recognition that victims of forced disappearances require.
