The Mayangna territorial government of Sauni Arungka lamented the murder of indigenous Salomón López Smith, who was found with signs of torture after seven days of searching. The authorities demand that the State clarify the case of the defender of communal lands.
“After seven days of intense searching, the body of the community member was found lifeless in the Palan Asan hill area within the Mukuswas communal property. The lifeless body shows torture in the cranial bone, skinned part of the face, no hair, mutilated ears and fingers of the left hand, with a fracture of the spinal cord and right hand, it also has two bullet holes of caliber shotgun in the back close to the spine and the open toes of the right foot, ”says the statement released on March 16.
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They add that the community “has been highly recognized at the Mayangna national level for its humility, for its principle of defense of communal land, for its vocation to cultural and western sport recognized internationally among the indigenous peoples of Latin America, its legacy will continue and be remembered.” eternally for the natives of the Mayangna territory.
The victim’s nephew, Noe Coleman, who serves as a substitute deputy before the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), denounced López Smith’s kidnapping in recent days. They point to Eusebia Antonia Dávila Díaz and Macario Suazo Hernández as suspects in the crime. They are “third mestizos with whom (Salomón López) dealt with property conflicts due to the illegal occupation of the community plot,” Coleman warned.
The politician issued a statement expressing his “greatest consternation and indignation at the insecurity that we indigenous peoples live in our own ancestral lands (…) Since March 8, my uncle Salomón López Smith has been missing.” The activist was last seen when he was at his work plot.
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The indigenous government had decreed a “state of emergency” after the disappearance of the community member. In turn, they reported that this situation was a consequence of the invasion of settlers on their lands, so they ask the regime to intervene and stop “ignoring” what is happening in the territories.
“In several decades the struggle for property management has not been addressed by the competent State authorities, that is why the situation has become more complicated every day,” said the community representative.
On March 2, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, presented to the plenary session of the UN Human Rights Council the updated report on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua. In the document, she highlights the violation of the rights of Nicaraguan indigenous peoples, denouncing before the international community that the peoples continued “suffering discrimination and violence.”
