The European Parliament voted by show of hands on Thursday a resolution in which it urges its member states to initiate formal investigations “into the crimes against humanity committed by the Nicaraguan authorities”.
The measure is based on evidence collected by the UN Group of Experts about human rights.
The resolution strongly condemns “the systematic and deliberate violations of human rights against the Nicaraguan population for political reasons,” including the actions perpetrated by Daniel Ortega recently as the stripping of nationality of the opponents, and the imprisonment of the Bishop Rolando Alvarez.
The European Parliament “requests proof that Monsignor Rolando Álvarez is alive; reiterates its call for his immediate and unconditional release and that of all political prisoners, opposition activists, defenders of human rights and the environment, members of the Catholic Church and journalists arbitrarily detained, and for the annulment of the proceedings followed and the judgments handed down against him.”
The resolution asks the European Union and its members to include guarantees of respect for human rights in relation to disbursements from multilateral organizations, such as CABEI, questioned for granting loans to the Ortega government.
It also condemns Nicaragua’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine and expresses its concern “for Russian military assistance to continue repressing the Nicaraguan population.”
The MEP Soraya Rodríguez asked that due to the actions against opponents in Nicaragua, more sanctions and ways to prosecute those responsible should be imposed. “It will be two years since we imposed the last sanctions against the Ortega y Murillo regime and things have only gotten dramatically worse,” said Rodríguez.
Nicaragua has been experiencing a political crisis since 2018, when protests arose against the government of President Daniel Ortega, which were repressed, leaving more than 300 dead and thousands of exiles.
Ortega has referred to these protests as an attempted coup sponsored by the United States and the Nicaraguan Catholic Church.
The international community has imposed sanctions against the Ortega administration, which accuses him of violating human rights, including the European Union.
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