Stolen babies organization begins fund raising

CÁDIZ One of several emerging organizations that are trying to deal with the number of cases of 'stolen babies', SOS Bebés Robados of Cádiz, has taken to the streets in search of funds to continue its campaign to get the innumerable cases of babies possibly stolen at birth in several hospitals of the province in front of as many courts as possible.Given that they have yet to obtain any kind of official grant, they have decided that they need to mobilize, in order to at least help families lacking the resources to obtain DNA tests carried out. They met on Saturday at the Chapín stadium in Jerez, where they set up tables and banners outside before and after the Xeres-Numancia game. Tomorrow, Tuesday, they intend to hold a demonstration at the doors to the Puerta del Mar Hospital in Cádiz, which was the site of the old Residencia Zamacola, where most of the cases in the city took place. From there, the idea is to march to the courts and then on to the cemetery. The objective is to>>>
demand that plans to demolish the graves there be stopped, as well as to get the courts to order the exhumations of the remains that supposedly exist there, which has already been ordered by the Prosecutor but are yet to be carried out.

The positive disposition of the Public Prosecutor's Office has encouraged the members of the organization, although, according to its president, Luisa Fernanda Terrazas, there is still a danger that cases may be dismissed either because they have reached the statute of limitations or for lack of evidence. "We have at least two cases from 1982 and 1987, which can hardly have reached the statute," says Terrazas, "nor is there lack of evidence as we have collected plenty of that."

About 100 people from Jerez are expected on Tuesday, largely because the process there has been slower than in the capital. Of those who have presented their cases to the Prosecutor, seven have made statements and presented documents and are now awaiting news about which court is to take charge of investigating them.

(Photo: europasur.es)

However, at a meeting held in Cádiz last month (photo, left) it was announced that protest meetings and demonstrations would be organized because of the "scandalous" number of cases that have been dismissed. While the Public Prosecutor may find "indications of a crime", the judges dismiss the cases because the supposedly stolen babies may have reached adulthood and have therefore reached the statute of limitations.