Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (ARMH)
Description
The Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (ARMH) was established in 2000 following the exhumation of a mass grave containing the remains of 13 republican civilians murdered by a group of Falangist gunmen on 16 October 1936 in Priaranza del Bierzo in the province of Leon. The main aim of the ARMH is to locate the remains of victims who disappeared (i.e. were murdered and their bodies disposed of in unmarked graves) during the Civil War and the ensuing Franco dictatorship. The ARMH has overseen the work of over 5,000 volunteers including relatives of the disappeared and members of diverse relevant professions (such as archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and archivists) and students. The association has carried out the exhumation of more than 150 unmarked graves, leading to the identification of about 1,500 victims. In 2003 its work led to Spain being included for the first time in the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the United Nations.