Spanish judge to investigate human rights abuses of Spanish Civil War

From the Telegraph

High Court Judge Balthasar Garzon has ordered governmental and religious authorities across Spain to unearth information about those killed at the hands of Franco’s fascist forces following his military uprising in July 1936.

He hopes to draw up a comprehensive list of victims and the way in which they were killed in a bid to determine whether there were human rights abuses outside of the theatre of war.

There is no official record of how many died on the Republican side during the three-year conflict, which claimed the lives of some 500,000 Spaniards in total. Many more were killed for opposing Franco during his 36-year dictatorship.