At least 18 civil society organizations participated this Thursday, October 27, in the 185th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) where they denounced the systematic violation of freedom of association in Nicaragua.
Among the organizations that participated are the Nicaragua Más Human Rights Collective, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), Popol Na, Fundación del Río and the Center for Information and Health Advisory Services (Cisas).
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The Human Rights Collective, based in Costa Rica, stated at a press conference that to date, the Ortega regime has arbitrarily canceled the legal status of 2,634 organizations, “of which 2,510 have been canceled as of March this year; and at least 43 organizations have been raided and unconstitutionally appropriated their assets.
The organization stressed that repressive laws continue to be applied that are used to justify these cancellations and criminalize their members, “which increases the vulnerability of historically discriminated populations.”
“As a representative sample presented, 53 canceled organizations reflects the reduction of 41.9 million dollars in annual execution of development projects, the loss of more than 2,000 formal jobs and the neglect of more than one million beneficiaries of these organizations.” the body added.
They also denounce all these cancellations and violence against human rights defenders are endorsed by “an instrumentalized Judiciary and by the inefficiency of internal resources.”
In this regard, Commissioner Margarette May, of the IACHR, stressed that all organizations that defend democracy are in danger, that criminalization and repression against human rights defenders is illegal, and that the main belief of the State is “authoritarianism”. of the regime.”
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He emphasized that the State classifies as enemies “those who oppose it, without the guarantee of any independent body in the country.” In addition, he pointed out that Nicaragua is destroying a part of the population in an “insane” way, pointing out that what is being experienced are crimes against humanity that cannot go unpunished.
In response to the complaints from the organizations, the Commission stated that the serious situation in the country is a priority for the organization, indicating that these human rights violations deserve maximum condemnation; It was also reiterated that the country is experiencing a “terror regime” that prevents its citizens from organizing to defend their rights.
The Collective emphasized that in view of this situation, it demanded that the Nicaraguan regime cease “the brutal repression against the organized Nicaraguan population, refraining from continuing to massively cancel organizations; restoring the legal personality of the canceled entities; returning their property to them; revoking the current arrest warrants and immediately releasing all those who remain deprived of their liberty for political reasons; as well as repeal all repressive and unconstitutional laws.
Mónica Baltodano, from Popol Na, affirmed that it was “quite stimulating” to know that the IACHR is very well informed of what is happening in Nicaragua. In addition, she refers that representatives of the organization are “quite in solidarity with the suffering of the Nicaraguan people.
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For Ana Quirós, president of the outlawed Cisas, with the cancellation of more than two thousand organizations, the Nicaraguan government left the members of the NGOs completely defenseless. “Because he did not cancel their employment benefits or seek any alternative for them.”
The representatives of the organizations that participated called for reflection on the Ortega and Murillo regime so that it ceases the repression in the country and allows freedom of association.
