The Permanent Commission on Human Rights (CPDH) denounced the consummation of the “theft” of their facilities with the removal of all their emblems and colors from the building in Managua that belonged to them until the dictatorship stripped them of their legal personality in April 2022.
«The bloody dictatorship of the Sandinista Front headed by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua, in addition to having consummated the robbery of our offices in Managua, intends to erase all traces of the work we do in defense of the Nicaraguan people. Our emblems and colors were erased from our building, but they will not be able to erase the crimes and tortures committed due to their excessive ambitions for power and their totalitarian megalomania,” the defense organization said in a statement.
Related news: Ortega Police take over CPDH facilities
On January 19, the CPDH facilities were taken over by agents of the Ortega regime. The lawyer and administrative secretary of CPDH, Marcos Carmona, affirmed that this action would happen “sooner or later.” “Since they took away our legal status, we were clear that the building was going to be confiscated,” he said.
Faced with this situation, they state that “CPDH never saw political colors in our work receiving and accompanying complaints, on the contrary, we have always kept in mind the commitment to the people, and we continue to defend it at any cost.”
The defense organization reiterates that “the defense of human rights is much more than a building. Long live Nicaragua!”, ends the statement.
On April 20 of last year, the steamroller of Sandinista deputies in the National Assembly canceled with 74 votes in favor, zero against, 15 abstentions and one present, the legal personality of the human rights defense organization, which included 24 other NGO. Before the outlawing of CPDH, its officials reported that an attempt was made to present the act of compliance, a document with which they could register as foreign agents, a regulation that obliges all non-profit associations to be accountable to the State for all donations and income they receive.
With the closure of the CPDH, there is no legalized organization in defense of human rights in Nicaragua. Since 2018, this NGO has suffered siege and harassment of its directors and lawyers. For more than 18 months, the Ortega justice system has held the lawyer María Oviedo captive in “El Nuevo Chipote”, whom it convicted for the alleged crime of “undermining national integrity”.
