The relatives of political prisoners issued a statement in which they denounced the “serious psychological, physical and emotional effects” caused to Ortega’s hostages who are in the cells of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ) in Managua, known as “El Nuevo Chipote».
“During this long period of disappearance and isolation between the last visit and this one, we were able to verify the effects on our political prisoners by not knowing the situation of their relatives. Nervous breakdowns and hypertension, heart conditions, insomnia, loss of appetite, crying and despair were some of the consequences of the prolonged solitary confinement to which our relatives were subjected,” the statement details.
Related news: They condemn verbal and physical abuse against relatives of political prisoners after a recent visit to “El Chipote”
They denounce that the visits occurred in a climate of “great tension and abuse of power due to the fact that we, the majority of our male, female, and elderly relatives, were subjected to exhaustive and demeaning searches, violating our physical integrity and privacy. We were forced to undress, to do squats, to later be victims of demeaning and mocking comments about the nudity of our bodies,” say the relatives who made the eleventh visit last Saturday, November 20.
Some of the relatives of the hostages of conscience have denounced that police officers, in addition to forcing them to undress, ordered them to do squats (physical exercise). “The officer who was in charge of that expressed that it was an order therefore she had to comply with it. What happened on Saturday (November 19) was assault or sexual abuse, because in addition to undressing them, they also touched them,” she denounced before Article 66 a source on condition of anonymity.
Faced with this situation, the Nicaragua Human Rights Collective Nunca Más demanded that the Ortega dictatorship “cease all forms of cruelty, inhuman and degrading treatment, and the freedom of all political prisoners in Nicaragua.”
The statement from relatives continues to highlight the refusal of the face-to-face visits regime for the children of political prisoners who have not been able to see their fathers and mothers since they were imprisoned by the Ortega-Murillo regime. They demand that they be allowed to have contact with minors.
Related news: Regime authorizes visit to political prisoners of “El Chipote”, after urgent calls from families
“We are extremely alarmed as we see that the physical deterioration continues. Specialized and timely medical attention is urgently needed to properly diagnose and care for old and new health conditions that threaten the lives of our relatives. Many of these conditions have worsened due to the precarious conditions and psychological abuse suffered by our relatives in the chipote and different penitentiaries in the country,” they request through the document.
Despite the situation, they emphasize that they feel “satisfied” because the opponents are “firm and dignified, enduring the constant abuses and humiliation of which they are victims, sure that they have not committed any crime.”
