By The Jerusalem Post (World News) | Created at 2024-09-27 11:40:13 | Updated at 2024-09-30 07:32:45
2 days ago
Barros Basto, who died in 1961, has been compared by the Jewish community of Porto to Alfred Dreyfus as his case bore similarities to that of the French officer who was expelled from the French army.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 13:39 Updated: SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 14:37
Captain Barros Basto.
(photo credit: Isabel Archives)
Isabel Barros Lopes, the granddaughter of Portuguese army captain Arthur Carlos Barros Basto, filed a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights requesting that the Portuguese state reinstate her grandfather into the military and issue an apology, the Jewish community of Porto said on Friday.
Barros Basto, a founder of the Jewish community of Porto in 1923, was relieved from his role in the Portuguese military in 1937 after having participated in the circumcision of his students. This step also stripped him of his pay, pension, and social benefits, the community said.
Barros Basto, who died in 1961, has been compared by the Jewish community of Porto to Alfred Dreyfus as his case bore similarities to that of the French officer who was expelled from the French military and stripped of his ranks after he was wrongly accused, tried and convicted of treason in 1894.
According to the community, the various efforts to reinstate Barros Lopes over the years were inconclusive. Faced with inaction on the part of the Portuguese state, Barros Lopes's granddaughter appealed to the European court.
The appeal argues that Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees anyone the right to a fair hearing within a reasonable timeframe, has been contravened in the captain's case.
'Vital that past wrongs be righted'
The community said the appeal asks for "a firm decision against the Portuguese State and an exhortation to said State to reinstate Arthur Carlos Barros Basto as colonel posthumously and to issue an apology to the family of the targeted officer for a terrible case that has been dragging on for almost a century," Barros Lopes said of her appeal.
Barros Lopes said, “This is a just cause and one where I would like to finally see justice and not leave it to the next generation to fight.”
“Especially with Antisemitism on the rise around the world, it is vital that past wrongs be righted and my grandfather be posthumously reinstated to the army he loved and fought for most of his life. We have given the Portuguese authorities ample opportunities to do the right thing, so now we must take our official plea to the European Court of Human Rights,” she noted.
