Judge orders investigation of Franco

MADRID, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A Spanish judge, in an unprecedented ruling, said Thursday the disappearance of thousands of people during the Franco era was a crime against humanity.

Judge Baltasar Garzon ordered a criminal investigation and the exhumation of bodies from 19 mass graves, the BBC reported. One of those graves is believed to hold the remains of Federico Garcia Lorca, the poet who was one of the most celebrated victims of the Spanish Civil War.

Gen. Francisco Franco led a military rebellion against the Republican government in Spain, setting off a bitter civil war from 1936 to 1939. He remained dictator of Spain for nearly 40 years, dying in 1975 after naming the current king, Juan Carlos, as his successor.

In a 68-page decision, Garzon named Franco and 34 senior members of his government and military as targets of an investigation. He asked for their death certificates to prove that they can no longer be prosecuted.

Garzon brought a similar action against Augusto Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile.