The family of the political prisoner Ana Margarita Vijil denounced that the area of conscience was attacked in her cell by a police chief in a “state of drunkenness”, at dawn on Sunday, December 19. The opposition leader served, this December 30, 200 days kidnapped in the Evaristo Vásquez prison, known as “the new Chipote.”
Pinita Gurdián, mother of Ana Margarita, pointed out that they do not know what type of aggression the political prisoner suffered and what the damages were.
“This information that we are denouncing, if confirmed, is extremely serious. We are concerned about the position of the presumed high-ranking official who entered and the state that did so ”, Gurdián denounced, who is also the grandmother of the Tamara Dávila area of conscience, who is also kidnapped in “el nuevo Chipote”.
In the public complaint that was made in the company of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) and Amnesty International, Vijil’s relatives asked the State of Nicaragua to respond: “what happened that morning? What is the state of physical and emotional health? What type of assault did you suffer and what were your damages? Why did an officer enter at dawn? Who allowed that officer in? Who were the alleged intellectual aggressors and the alleged material aggressor?
They asked the authorities to allow Pinita Gurdián to enter in the company of the International Red Cross, to corroborate the status of the political prisoner. Likewise, that an investigation be initiated into the events that occurred against Ana Margarita.
Amnesty International: “We are seeing that there is a persistent pattern of acts of torture”
The representative for the Americas of Amnesty International, Erika Guevara Rosas, who accompanied the relatives of Ana Margarita, regretted that in Nicaragua “acts of torture are taking place against people who are in the custody of the State for political reasons.”
“We are very concerned not only with the testimony in the voice of her mother, but also with the evidence that is documented about this incident that has put Ana Margarita’s rights to life and safety at great risk,” he said.
Likewise, he reiterated that “It is important to mention that we would be facing acts that are prohibited by international law, that cannot in any way be justified. These acts are considered crimes under international law and in certain circumstances it may include crimes against humanity with criminal responsibility not only for those who carry out the act but also for the high command who by omission or commission are involved ”.
As described by Ana Álvarez, a relative of Ana Margarita, the Human Rights Commission (IACHR) has already requested information from States about the recent aggression suffered by Vijil, but they have not received a response.
?According to information to which his family has had access, on December 19 a high command of the police broke into the cell where he was drunk. @anavijil remains incommunicado and assaulted her.
? Until now, no further details have been disclosed about the nature and severity of the attack. pic.twitter.com/3bBtsKcRTa– IM-Defenders (@IM_Defensoras) December 30, 2021
“The State has systematically refused to respond to each of our requests and our questions, given that systematic and generalized response of the State to all the actions we have taken, it is that we as family members decided to make this public complaint because we understand that the The State has an obligation to respond, ”he said.
Likewise, he reiterated that as family members they will continue to exhaust all national instances in search of answers. “We hope that thanks to the solidarity of civil society and human rights organizations this complaint can have an echo and that echo can have a result in the guarantee of rights and in being able to verify what the situation of Ana Margarita is and what can be done a serious, ethical and credible investigation ”.
200 days in prison
Vijil was arrested on June 13 along with Dora María Téllez, both of whom are members of the Unión Democrática Renovadora (Unamos), which was previously known as the Movimiento Renovador Sandinista (MRS). That same day, three more members of this organization were also detained: Suyén Barahona Cuán, Hugo Torres and Víctor Hugo Tinoco. Likewise, the day before, Tamara Dávila, who is part of the UNAB, was arrested.
Vijil was accused by the Daniel Ortega regime of being “the alleged perpetrator of the crime of conspiracy to undermine national integrity, in accordance with articles 410 and 412 of the Penal Code, to the detriment of Nicaraguan society and the State of Nicaragua ”.
Since their arrest, the political prisoners Téllez, Dávila, Vijil and Barahona, remain in total isolation in solitary confinement cells of the “new Chipote”.
According to his relatives, Vijil, who recently turned 44, is not allowed to provide him with blankets or bedding, for which he suffers from cold in his isolation. In addition, in his cell they keep the light on throughout the day and night and he suffers from constant interrogation.
“I live with pain and anguish her imprisonment and the torture of being held incommunicado (…) The last time I looked at her, she was left with great anguish in case I died. I am coming out of a serious condition due to an intestinal obstruction, which is why I recently had two surgeries and was intubated ”, described Pinita Gurdián.
The new prisoners
Between May and the end of November 2021, the regime added 67 new prisoners of conscience, including seven candidates for the presidency. Prior to these arrests, at least 100 political prisoners were already waiting in jails.
This group of more than 60 prisoners have only had the right to three family visits, the first in August, the second in October and the last in November. It was expected that before Christmas they would be granted this right, but this was not the case and the relatives fear that even on New Year’s Eve they will not be allowed to see them.
Political prisoners face accelerated weight loss, constant questioning, denial of access to their lawyers, reduced portions of food that translate into malnutrition, blocked entry of food by their relatives, and zero communication with the outside. .
