The president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), Vilma Núñez, asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to “redouble efforts” to continue pressuring the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to achieve the release of political prisoners.
This Thursday, June 16, the defender participated in the presentation on the oral update of the situation in Nicaragua. Núñez maintained that in the country “the space for civil society is disappearing, this year they have arbitrarily canceled the legal status of 363 civil associations and foundations; that already add up to 432 organizations since December 2018, including the Cenidh ».
The lawyer pointed out that the outlawing of NGOs is a “generalized persecution, characteristic of a totalitarian state that encompasses all kinds of social, human rights and humanitarian organizations that serve the diverse needs of Nicaraguans.”
Related news: UN highlights that 2022 has marked an “unprecedented” Nicaraguan migration
In addition, he highlighted the effort of the UN Human Rights Council to address the crisis that is getting worse every day in Nicaragua.
The president of the Cenidh, in her brief speech, also denounced the persecution, bullying and harassment that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega has perpetrated against the Nicaraguan Catholic Church.
He explained that the regime has attacked Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, Father Harving Padilla and the priest Manuel Salvador García, the latter being imprisoned by the Ortega administration for allegedly exercising physical violence against a woman.
Likewise, he highlighted the situation of the 190 political prisoners who remain in subhuman conditions, suffering torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
On behalf of Cenidh and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Vilma Núñez requested “the honorable Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to redouble efforts to achieve the immediate release of political prisoners.”
