Manos Limpias (English: Clean Hands) is an association founded in Madrid in 1995 by Spanish lawyer and extreme right activist Miguel Bernad Remón [es].
Considered by The New York Times[2] and several Spanish media to be politically motivated by the far-right,[3][4][5][6] Manos Limpias played a role in the indictment of Baltasar Garzón, a judge who investigated crimes against humanity committed by the Franco regime, and attacked a children's TV show for alleged gay overtones.
Manos Limpias declares itself independent from any party, and claims to have no ideological affiliation;[9] however, the vast majority of the lawsuits brought by them to court were consistently against the socioliberal centre-right or against the nationalist in Catalonia and Basque Country, as they have been the most active in clashing with Constitutional Law.
The group has often been described by the media as a far-right[3][4][10][11] civil servants' organisation due to their choice of court actions and Mr. Bernad's past membership of the far right party Fuerza Nueva during the early eighties.
[13] The court opinion expressed concerned that the activity of Manos Limpias can cause "accusatory hypertrophy that may affect the right of defense and to make the process even slower and create a plurality of charges while they are not offended by the crime, they can not have in criminal proceedings a different interest to the Prosecutor ".
Since the activity of the union focuses on the field of administration, Manos Limpias has no legitimacy to supplant the role attributed by the law to prosecutions that holds the adversarial principle in defense of the general good.
[14] In 2015, the Madrid Prosecution of Economic Crimes (Spain) investigated the president of Manos Limpias, Miguel Bernad, and attorney of the trade union Virginia Lopez Negrete for alleged misappropriation of funds[15] and money laundering.
[18] The Spanish Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offences (SEPBLAC) conducted a comprehensive financial intelligence report and found evidence of criminal activity.
[19] In February 2015, the Criminal Division of the Spanish Supreme Court opened an investigation into Manos Limpias considering an abuse of process[20] In its resolution it said that "it is not permissible that the procedural part discontented with the judgment answer, nor with the interposition of a resource, but with the presentation of the complaint orphan foundation."
[26] The Ausbanc President, Luis Pineda, and the Secretary General of Manos Limpias, Miguel Bernad, maintained a friendship for years and have been linked to far-right settings.
[30] In an interview with the Spanish Catholic radio Station COPE at the time of the indictment, Miguel Bernad claimed that, by admitting the latest action against Garzón, the Supreme Court had given a boost to its mission of battling against the current "deterioration in the rule of law".