In the event of non-compliance with the rules [of the LOAC], the State is liable insofar as it has the obligation to pay compensation in accordance with any resolutions condemning the acts in question or to adopt any other measures agreed on by the international community. 

In the event of failure to comply with the established rules [of the LOAC], the State is liable to pay any compensation awarded and adopt any measures agreed by the international community. States are therefore responsible for all criminal acts committed by their armed forces. 

When a State that is party to a conflict violates the provisions of the Conventions, it is liable, if the case demands, to pay compensation. The State is responsible for all acts committed by persons forming part of its armed forces and is therefore liable to pay any compensation awarded for violations committed by such persons. 

The State and international organizations can commit unlawful acts. They are not, however, held criminally responsible, but are liable to pay compensation. Whether individuals accused of war crimes are successfully prosecuted or not (by international or national courts) does not affect the responsibility of the State, which is liable to pay compensation in the form of reparation. Any party to a conflict that violates treaty-law provisions relating to armed conflict is liable to pay compensation and is responsible for all acts committed by the persons forming part of their armed forces. The proper channels for enforcing this responsibility are diplomatic protests or international legal proceedings. 

The State, the autonomous community, the province, the island, the municipality or another public authority, depending on the case, has subsidiary liability for damage caused by a person who has committed a fraudulent or culpable act, provided that the person in question is a representative, agent or employee of said authority, or an official acting in the line of duty, that the damage caused was a direct consequence of running the public services entrusted to that person, and that there can be no duplication of the compensation awarded. The aforesaid is without prejudice to the liability associated with the normal or faulty functioning of such services, in keeping with the rules of administrative procedure. 

[N]ote should be taken of the recent adoption of Act. No. 52/2007 of 26 December 2007, which recognizes and extends rights and introduces measures in favour of victims of persecution or violence during the civil war and the dictatorship … [including] compensation for victims of the Franco period (including victims of torture). 

As an expression of all citizens’ right to moral reparation and to the restoration of personal and family memory, the radically unjust nature of all convictions, sanctions, and all forms of personal violence suffered for political, ideological or religious reasons during the Civil War as well as during the Dictatorship is hereby acknowledged and declared. 

[N]ote should be taken of the recent adoption of Act. No. 52/2007 of 26 December 2007, which recognizes and extends rights and introduces measures in favour of victims of persecution or violence during the civil war and the dictatorship; and which, with regard to compensation for victims of the Franco period (including victims of torture), provides for the right to claim redress and personal recognition. Article 1 of the Act establishes the right to moral compensation and to the commemoration of those victims and their families. Accordingly, article 2 of the Act acknowledges and confirms the basically unjust nature of all sentences, punishments and personal violence, which occurred for political, ideological or religious reasons during the periods in question. That general assessment is complemented, as the explanatory statement of the Act indicates, with a specific procedure for obtaining a personal declaration of rehabilitation and redress under article 4 of the Act. That right may be exercised by the victims themselves, their family or the public bodies, in which the victims held an office or carried out a relevant activity.  

167. … [T]he efforts undertaken in the last years by the Spanish State with regard to the victims of the civil war and the dictatorship … must be emphasized. The recent adoption of Law No. 52/2007 of 26 December recognized and strengthened the rights and established measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the civil war and the dictatorship, [including] the right of the victims of Francoism (including those tortured) to obtain a declaration of reparation and personal recognition.

168. In this way, the law recognizes in article 1 the right to moral reparation and to the recovery of the personal and family history of those who suffered persecution or violence during the civil war and the dictatorship. As an expression of this right, article 2 recognizes and declares the radically unjust nature of the sentences, punishments and other forms of violence [that were committed] against persons for political, ideological or religious reasons during the civil war, as well as those that occurred for the same reasons during the dictatorship. This generic declaration is complemented by … a special procedure to obtain a personal declaration … for all those affected, which may be exercised by them or by their families or by the public institutions for which they worked.