Ley De Fugas
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The application of the (Spanish for 'Law for escapes') is a type of execution that consists of simulating or provoking an attempted escape of a prisoner and then killing them for "attempting to escape prison". It is used to justify an otherwise
extrajudicial execution An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, ...
.


History


Spain

In
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, the method of execution of "fugitives", later known as ''Ley de fugas'', was implemented in
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
by Brigadier Antoine de Roten, governor of
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, in the persecution against the absolutist groups during ''
Trienio Liberal The , () or Three Liberal Years, was a period of three years in Spain between 1820 and 1823 when a liberal government ruled Spain after a military uprising in January 1820 by the lieutenant-colonel Rafael del Riego against the absolutist rule ...
''. According to Vicente de la Fuente's description of the method: It was later applied against
Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
n banditry in the 19th century. During the Restoration (1874-1931) the governments favored the
dirty war The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...
against the trade union movement and allowed the civil governor of Barcelona, General
Severiano Martínez Anido Severiano Martínez Anido (21 May 1862 – 24 December 1938) was a Spanish general who served in a number of government posts in Spain during the Primo de Rivera and Francoist dictatorships. He became known for the violent repression of the lab ...
, through the Civil Guard and gunmen of '' Sindicato Libre'' (a
company union A company or "yellow" union is a worker organization which is dominated or unduly influenced by an employer and is therefore not an independent trade union. Company unions are contrary to international labour law (see ILO Convention 98, Article ...
), to order eight hundred attacks that produced more than five hundred deaths among various
anarcho-syndicalists Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...
of the CNT (among them, prominent figures such as
Salvador Seguí Salvador Seguí i Rubinat (23 September 1887, in Lleida – 10 March 1923, in Barcelona), known as ''El noi del sucre'' ("the sugar boy" in Catalan) for his habit of eating the sugar cubes served him with his coffee, was a Catalan anarcho-synd ...
or
Evelio Boal Evelio Boal López (Valladolid, 11 May 1884 – Barcelona, 18 June 1921) was a Spanish graphic designer, trade unionist and anarchism, anarchist. He was one of the organizers of the :ca:Congrés de Sants, Congress of Sants of the Confederación N ...
), according to figures from Martínez Anido himself; the actual figures were therefore probably higher. In fact, the future dictator
Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...
justified the use of state terrorism in a 1920 letter to the then president of the Spanish government
Eduardo Dato Eduardo Dato e Iradier (12 August 1856 – 8 March 1921) was a Spanish political leader during the Spanish Restoration period. He served three times as Spanish prime minister: from 27 October 1913 to 9 December 1915, from 11 June 1917 to 3 No ...
: "I understand that the defense instinct seeks extralegal means... A raid, a transfer, an attempt leak and a few shots will begin to solve the problem.” Many intellectuals and writers attacked this inhuman disposition, such as Ramón María del Valle-Inclán in a couple of scenes added to the second edition (1924) of his grotesque ''Luces de Bohemia'', through the character of the Catalan anarchist Mateo, prisoner executed by this form. The procedure is also mentioned in the film '' La sombra de la ley'' (''Gun City''), by Dani de la Torre (2018). During the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
(1936-1939), this procedure was also euphemistically called "taking a walk", since the prisoner was told that he was allowed to "take a walk" before shooting him. Soon, prisoners began to discover this trick and they refused to go for a walk. From then on they were shot in the back, without further ado. To give the political assassination an appearance of legality, the usual procedure was the falsification of a complaint of disaffection to the side that committed the execution. This was often achieved by force, through torture or blackmail of other detainees. The law continued to be used during the
Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
, particularly for the repression of the Republican '' maquis'' guerrillas. More widely, it was used against those who held ideological positions other than National Catholicism and could not be sentenced to death by judicial means.


Mexico

During the dictatorship of
Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...
(1876-1911), the law published on 25 January 1867 by the government of
Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
(also called ''Ley de fugas'') was used as a repressive method to eliminate a person or a group of people revolting against the president. Most of the victims were common criminals (their number is estimated at more than 10,000) who lived in the countryside, where the Rural Police Corps operated. During some disturbances in
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
, Porfirio Díaz sent a telegram to Luis Mier y Terán, governor of the State, ordering him: "Kill them hot", in the sense that the prisoners be given facilities to escape and use the escape attempt as a pretext to shoot them. The custom, inherited from colonial times, continued in use during and after the
1910 Revolution 5 October 1910 Revolution () was the overthrow of the centuries-old Portuguese monarchy and its replacement by the First Portuguese Republic. It was the result of a ''coup d'état'' organized by the Portuguese Republican Party. By 1910, the Ki ...
and was also used in the Cristeros War (1926-1929).


Argentina

The military dictatorships that ruled Argentina during the 20th century would execute prisoners for real or simulated escape attempts. In 1972, the
Trelew massacre The Trelew Massacre was a mass execution of 16 political prisoners, militants of different Peronist and leftist organizations, in Rawson prison by the military dictatorship of Argentina. The prisoners were recaptured after an escape attempt and s ...
took place: the ''de facto'' government of Alejandro Agustín Lanusse ordered the execution of 16 people recaptured after an escape attempt. During the
National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process ( PRN; often simply , "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as the ("last military junta"), ("last military dictatorship") ...
, prisoners were shot during "transfers", to later claim that the transport had been attacked and that they had died in the ensuing confrontation.


References

{{Reflist White Terror (Spain) Restoration (Spain) Execution methods Extrajudicial killings by type Extrajudicial killings in Europe Murder in Spain