An exhibition in solidarity for the more than 200 political prisoners in Nicaragua and their families, was inaugurated in the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, promoted by Be Human and the deputy Monserrat Ruíz, president of the Legislative Commission on Human Rights of Costa Rica.
“Our commitment is to continue denouncing the barbarism that occurs in Nicaragua,” said the deputy Monserrat Ruíz, during the opening of the exhibition, called “Your solidarity can stop torture.”
Leonor Zúniga, a member of the Sé Humano team, explained that the exhibition is dedicated to political prisoners, their families, and above all, their sons and daughters who cannot communicate with them.
The exhibition consists of three moments or stations, which seek to make visible the cruel treatment and violations of the human rights of political prisoners and their families, by the Ortega and Murillo regime.
“Put yourself in their shoes” is the first part of the exhibition, which calls for identification with political prisoners. “These people were ordinary citizens, social leaders, who were suddenly imprisoned,” says Zúniga.
The second station of the exhibition, called “Look through their eyes”, simulates through virtual reality, a punishment cell of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ) of Managua, better known as El Chipote, as well as the conditions prisons where political prisoners have been held for more than 16 months.
“It’s pretty rude and sad. It is inhumane to think that there are people who are living in these types of conditions,” said Jacqueline Soto, a Costa Rican student who visited the exhibition.
“It looks terrible. The environment denotes the oppression and limitations that exist, because they cannot even receive the drawings,” commented Andrés Monge, also a Costa Rican student.
The third part of the exhibition is called “Be your voice”, where people are invited to carry out actions in favor of the release of political prisoners in Nicaragua.
A call for your freedom
During the act, Ricardo Baltodano, released from political prison and exiled, narrated the torture to which he was subjected for a year, during his illegal imprisonment in La Modelo prison, between September 2018 and October 2019.
Relatives of political prisoners made an alert call for the health of their relatives. Freddy Rodríguez, exiled and relative of the political prisoners, Moisés Salinas and Rubén Manzanares, denounced that the current state of health of his relatives is unknown.
“We have more than 80 days of not hearing from our relatives. They are missing, because we don’t know if they are still in El Chipote. Our main demand is that our right to visit be respected, to verify their state of health and physical integrity, since they do not give us any type of information”, demanded María Margarita Hurtado, a political prisoner released, exiled and niece of Juan Sebastián Chamorro, political prisoner.
The exhibition will be open to the general public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., concluding on Friday, November 18 at 2:00 p.m.
As of November 19, the exhibition will be open at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), located in San Pedro, San José.
