Uncertainty predominates among the relatives of political prisoners in Nicaragua, who long to see the detainees but do not know if they will be able to visit them in the country’s prisons on the occasion of the New Year. Some fear it will be repeated what happened at christmas, when special visits were canceled or simply never confirmed if there would be one.
A relative of the political prisoner Norlan Cárdenas Ortiz, who asked to omit his name for safety reasons, recalled that at Christmas and New Year 2020 they divided the relatives who arrived in groups of ten at the “Jorge Navarro” Penitentiary System, known as “La Modelo” , in Tipitapa, and allowed them to share for two hours. But this year, for December 24, they only received the “Christmas meal”.
“We do not know if they are going to give us -special visit for December 31-“, he said. An authority from “La Modelo” told him that, if there were visits, they would call them to inform them, but this has not happened yet.
This is the third year that Cárdenas Ortiz spends his Christmas and New Years in the prisons of the Ortega regime, while his relative assures that they feel “more alone than ever.”
Another relative of a political prisoner detained since 2019, and who prefers that his identity not be known for security reasons, says that he was very happy because he was told that he could see his relative on December 25 last. However, the visit was canceled and they already informed him that they will not be able to see him on December 31 either.
“Knowing that they said yes to us and then they said no… That they canceled them – on December 25th-, that they only gave (special visit) to the common-royals and they -the political prisoners- were put aside. It’s frustrating, because so much damage has been done to us; Knowing that the others could be with their families and they could not, is hard. ”, said the relative.
“Someone is missing in this home”
“We do not make meals for these dates, we do not go out, we have the worst because while everyone at that time – at Christmas and New Year – is cuddling with their family, they are not. There is always someone missing in this home, “said the relative to CONFIDENTIAL.
The Ortega regime keeps 167 political prisoners behind bars, of which there are more than 50 who were captured in the context of the November 7 vote in which Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, were guaranteed five more years in power, the product of an electoral process without political competition or minimum democratic guarantees.
At least 36 of the political prisoners, including seven presidential candidates, civic leaders, journalists, student leaders, peasants, businessmen and former diplomats, are detained at the “Evaristo Vásquez” Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), known as the “new Chipote” and some of them remain in confinement. They were not allowed visits at Christmas and it is still unknown what will happen in the New Year.
One of the relatives of the political prisoners reported that every day that they come to leave water at the facilities of the “new Chipote” they ask if there will be a visit on New Years, but the police say they do not know. “The truth is, I think there is so much evil that they are going to let us pass these dates without our relatives to torture us and them,” he considers. The same thing happened at Christmas, they asked if there would be a visit, but they never got an answer.
For almost six months, prisoners of conscience imprisoned in the DAJ have only been allowed three visits, violating their right to periodic visits established by law.
Those who were captured last November, the authorities isolated them in police delegations and later transferred them to prisons. If by economist Harry Chávez, Captured on November 6 on the eve of the elections in Nicaragua, he also did not have the right to have his family visit him at “La Modelo” at Christmas, and he will not have a visit on New Years. The justification is that “he does not have a visit that day,” confirmed a relative.
The relatives continue to demand the release of all prisoners of conscience and that their physical and psychological integrity be respected and that they receive medical attention.
