The Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued on Tuesday a statement in which it declares the State of Nicaragua “in permanent contempt” with respect to the provisional measures issued by this body in favor of 45 political prisoners detained in at least 8 detention centers in the Central American nation.
The Court issued a resolution in June 2021 in which it required the Nicaraguan State to release “immediately” the candidates for the presidency Juan Sebastián Chamorro and Félix Maradiaga, as well as the former president of the private sector, José Adán Aguerri.
The body also issued other resolutions in September and November 2021, as well as in May and October 2022 on political prisoners that were not addressed by the Nicaraguan government led by Daniel Ortega either. The Court said that this constitutes “an act of permanent contempt for the binding nature of the decisions issued by this Court.”
“Contrary to the international principle of complying with their conventional obligations in good faith and a breach of the duty to inform the Court, which puts them in a situation of absolute vulnerability and increases the situation of risk in which the beneficiaries find themselves,” the Court indicated.
The Court instructed the President of the Court to submit a report to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States on the situation of permanent contempt and “absolute lack of protection in which the beneficiaries of the provisional measures find themselves.”
The next step would be for the Court to urge the OAS Permanent Council to ensure the effectiveness of the American Convention and follow up on the issue.
Nicaragua is currently in a process to leave the OAS after having accused the agency of being “an interfering colony of the United States.” This month marked the first of two years required for the decision to be finalized.
Analysts have indicated that as long as Managua remains in the OAS, it is obliged to abide by the measures dictated by the organization.
What does the Ortega government say?
According to the Inter-American Court, the State of Nicaragua has sent 19 communications related to former presidential candidate Juan Sebastián Chamorro and other opponents with precautionary measures in which it has expressed its rejection of these “for considering that they follow the script imposed by States States and “include a biased narrative.”
According to the Court, the State has also maintained that the measures are “threats conferred by stating that non-compliance with the coercive and unilateral measures it issues would bring with it possible international responsibilities” which “do not intimidate them”.
Regarding the situation of the beneficiaries, the State has indicated that the Court’s measures “constitute an act of disrespect for the sovereignty and security of the nation.”
“That the Court echo the continuous and distorted stories of those who claim to represent these people, in a unique and strategic plan to destabilize the government and ignore their responsibility, in the criminal proceedings they are facing today,” the State indicated. Nicaraguan.
Nicaragua is currently facing a sociopolitical crisis that arose four years ago in the Central American country after anti-government protests that left more than 300 dead and thousands of exiles.
The Ortega government has arrested more than 200 opponents and has liquidated some 3,000 non-governmental organizations after accusing them of trying to carry out a coup, something that has been rejected by the international community.
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