When I was holidaying in Spain in October it felt very much like a nation that was beginning to come to terms with its past and righting a few wrongs in the process. The last of Falangist Franco's statues were being removed. Bodies were being exhumed from mass graves, the locations of which had in places been an open secret for the previous seven decades since the end of the Spanish Civil War. And there seem to be a lot of such graves dotted around Spain, more than one would expect in a civilised European country with the possible exception of Bosnia.
It seems to be a feature of history that after wars and civil wars nations out of necessity seem to feel the need to move on quickly rather than to risk self-immolation by addressing the crimes that have been committed on both sides under circumstances when peacetime law and order had been suspended. This expedient approach allows all kinds of psychopaths to escape justice, especially if they are perceived as having some short term residual value in the new post-conflict society.
Following a tip-off, evidence of a mass grave was found yesterday in the woods to the north of Kathmandu. It is believed that this could hold the cremated remains of 49 Maoists who were detained at a notorious Army barracks during the "People's War". The site is being investigated by forensic teams and by the National Human Rights Commission. But if it indeed proves to mark the final resting place of those who were tortured and executed it remains to be seen if anyone is brought to book for the crimes.
