A group of 29 human rights organizations and 160 other activists and personalities sent a letter this Thursday to the foreign ministers of Latin America, the Caribbean and Europein which they ask to give top priority to the serious democratic and humanitarian crisis that it is going through Nicaragua.
(Read here: The reforms with which Daniel Ortega sharpens his dictatorial moves in Nicaragua)
In the letter, which is also addressed to Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva, the signatories ask for a group of countries that are friends of the people of Nicaragua to be formed next week, so that a multilateral, coordinated, and high-level response to the actions of the President Daniel Ortega.
“The undersigned, victims of the Nicaraguan government, together with national and international human rights organizations, are writing to request that your government prioritize the situation in Nicaragua within the framework of the next European Union (EU) – Community of Latin American States Summit and Caribbean (Celac) scheduled for July 17 and 18 in Brussels. In particular, we urge that a Group of Friends of the Nicaraguan People be proposed to guarantee a multilateral, coordinated and high-level response to the serious human rights and humanitarian crisis that the country is experiencing.”, says the letter obtained by this newspaper.
The letter is headed by the US organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), Cejil, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Due Process Foundation (DPLF), the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), the Washington Office on Latin American Affairs (Wola), EU-LAT Network, Civil Rights Defenders and other civil society organizations in Nicaragua.
Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch.
Sergio Steel Yacht. time
The human rights crisis in Nicaragua requires a firm and sustained response from the democratic governments of Latin America and Europe.
Likewise, it has the support of Nicaraguans in exile and former politicians from various sectors, including prestigious writers, such as Sergio Ramirez and Gioconda Belli; renowned journalists, such as Carlos Fernando Chamorro; former political prisoners, including Félix Maradiaga, Medardo Mairena, Dora Téllez and Juan Sebastián Chamorro; and human rights defenders, such as Bianca Jagger and Tamara Dávila.
“The human rights crisis in Nicaragua requires a firm and sustained response from the democratic governments of Latin America and Europe,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director for HRW.
According to the signatories, since the brutal repression of protesters in April 2018, President Daniel Ortega has persecuted anyone perceived as a critic of the government.
They also mention a report published at the beginning of March by the UN Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua that documents solid evidence of crimes against humanity, including murders, imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, forced deportations and persecution for reasons politicians.
The text quotes the Nicaraguan organization Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners, according to which «64 people are arbitrarily detained in Nicaragua, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a staunch critic of the Government.» And he adds that the Ortega Executive has also «restricted the space of civil society.»
“Since the beginning of 2018, the authorities have canceled the legal status of more than 3,400 non-governmental organizations by applying abusive legislation. Likewise, an international human rights body has not been allowed to enter the country since the Government expelled the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights with no 2018 fine,” he added.
According to the signatories, although several of the countries in the region have condemned these abuses, «the international response has lacked the necessary coordination and a sustained effort to effectively promote the release of political prisoners, the surrender of accounts and that steps be taken towards the restoration of democracy in Nicaragua”.
An effort, they say, that should include all the leaders of these countries regardless of the political spectrum to which they belong.
The Group of friends, they maintain, should agree to high-level meetings in coordination with Nicaraguan civil society to design a strategy of public and private pressure that leads to stopping the abuses, fostering accountability, reparations to the victims and free elections are encouraged.
“The Latin American and European governments must come together to establish a joint strategy to face the crisis in Nicaragua. The people cannot waste any more time,” Goebertus said.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
TIME CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON
On Twitter: @sergom68