The president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Julissa Mantilla, denounced before the member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) the repression established in Nicaragua by the Ortega regime and demanded an end “to the persecution suffered by the civil society, the Church and the (independent) press”.
“In the first place, I want to draw attention to the serious situation of the more than 180 political prisoners who remain in conditions contrary to human dignity and, many of them, in a delicate state of health. This situation has led to the granting of precautionary measures by the IACHR as well as provisional measures by the Inter-American Court for the protection of approximately 70 people deprived of liberty, between both mechanisms”, Mantilla highlighted in his speech at the OAS plenary.
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The Commission, through its representative, demanded that the Nicaraguan regime guarantee his integrity, his life and the immediate release of the political prisoners who are under “inhumane conditions,” as reported by their relatives and human rights organizations.
In its statement, the IACHR also expressed concern about the intensification of the repression in the country more than four years after the social outbreak, considering that the “breaking of the principle of separation of powers and the consequent absence of the rule of law have prolonged possible the manipulation and use of the entire state apparatus to repress and persecute civil society, the church, the press and any hint of opposition in the country».
Mantilla stressed that this year the Commission has documented “the intensification of the actions undertaken by the Nicaraguan State for the absolute closure of civic space in the country, through a strategy of total control and coercion of the fundamental freedoms of the population, such as freedom of expression, religion, association, academic freedom, among others»
Several countries joined the demands of the human rights defense organization “so that the human rights of detainees and all women deprived of liberty be respected,” Canada said during its speech.
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The resolution approved this afternoon in the OAS plenary has five points, it points to the “forced closure” of non-profit organizations and foundations, which already total almost 1,400 NGOs with legal personality canceled by the National Assembly, which responds to the interests of the dictatorial couple in a persecution against freedom of association that seeks to limit civic space in the country.
The document also addresses the persecution of the Catholic Church, priests, bishops, opposition leaders and political prisoners of the Ortega regime. From the first of August, the dictatorship ordered an escalation of repression against the Diocese of Matagalpa and its bishop, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez. That day, through the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office (Telcor), he ordered the closure of all radio stations in the Diocese, local channels in the department, radio programs and a media outlet in Nueva Guinea.
