The Argentine justice may require the extradition of Daniel Ortega, his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo and their accomplices in the massacre and repression in Nicaragua, if the criminal investigation opened against them determines their responsibilities in crimes against humanity, affirms the lawyer Uriel Pineda, human rights expert.
“Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo or whoever derives with these accusations of responsibility or with accusations in this process are going to turn Nicaragua into a prison for them because, the moment they go out to any country in the region, on the continent, including European countries, The moment they set foot on foreign territory, they may be required by the Argentine authorities in an extradition process,” said the jurist.
On October 5, in the courts of Comodoro Py, Buenos Aires, Argentina, opened a criminal investigation -based on the principle of universal jurisdiction- against Ortega, Murillo and the high authorities of their regime to determine if they committed crimes against humanity in Nicaragua.
The investigation began, according to an Infobae report, from the complaint filed by the lawyers Darío Richarte and Diego Pirota against the Nicaraguan president, his wife, and all those officials who make up the repressive apparatus that persecutes protesters, dissidents and opponents who they have dared to protest since 2018.
Among those accused of committing crimes against humanity, in addition to Ortega and Murillo, are the head of the National Police, Commissioner General Francisco Díaz; the presidential adviser, Néstor Moncada Lau; the head of the Nicaraguan Army, General Julio César Avilés Castillo; the transport minister, retired general Óscar Mojica; the president of the National Assembly, deputy Gustavo Porras Cortés.
Also the director of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute, Roberto López; the presidential adviser on defense and security issues, Óscar Valladares; the former health minister, Sonia Castro; and the president of the Central Bank of Nicaragua, Ovidio Reyes Ramírez.
“An Alternative Justice”
The federal judge Ariel Lijo of Argentina ordered to send an exhortation to the Nicaraguan justice so that it informs if there are open cases where extrajudicial executions, illegal detentions, forced disappearance of people, or torture are investigated.
Lawyer Pineda explained on Confidencial Radio that the warrant is sent precisely as part of the criminal investigation process based on “universal jurisdiction”, recognized in the Argentine Constitution, since it firstly seeks to “rule out and legally demonstrate the inactivity of the judicial authorities in Nicaragua, since it is the duty of the State to punish and capture those responsible for these crimes and if this has not happened what there is is an omission due to a collapse in this substantial case of the administration of justice.”
“When a country does not have the capacity or the freedom to prosecute, prosecute, the people who commit these serious crimes, then international instances must be activated, in such a way that the request made by the Argentine authorities what comes is to verify, verify , that indeed in Nicaragua there is a substantial collapse of the administration of justice, making it impossible for the victims to access justice in that country and, in this sense, the possibility of actions being initiated where, not only from the investigative sphere, but also that he may eventually face justice, not only Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, but also any person who, within the application of this government policy, this State policy, to persecute, repress, torture opponents in Nicaragua, has links to criminal proceedings in Argentina,” he added.
In addition, he stressed that this criminal investigation provides “an alternative justice to victims of crimes against humanity, or genocide in some cases, especially given the air of impunity that can be breathed in some countries.”
The jurist explained that the “main objective is to prosecute those who are responsible” and it is first required to “integrate the relevant documentation that proves the possible commission of crimes against humanity.” Although, he stressed that the presence of the persons indicated within Argentina is also needed and, since this is not possible in the case of Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo and their accomplices, the requirements of the Argentine justice system regarding extradition processes are necessary. .
Channel of communication with the victims
Pineda stressed that it is important that the different sectors that have been victims of human rights violations in Nicaragua support the documentation process that begins after the opening of this investigation, establishing a “channel of communication with the actors in Argentina that are promoting this process”.
“Argentina is not one of the destinations of this exodus of Nicaraguan victims of repression and therefore it is necessary to overcome this gap, in such a way that establishing contact, providing information, testimonies to these actors will allow this process to advance in Argentina,” he said.
“This documentation exercise does not seek to prove a context, which is also important, what it seeks is to give a face to the victims and give a face to those directly responsible for these crimes,” he said.
The complaint made by the lawyers Richarte and Pirota describes the social and political context that has been experienced in Nicaragua since 2018, based on a series of reports and investigations carried out by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Human Rights Council (UN), the Amnesty International Organization, the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), and the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for Nicaragua.
These reports indicate a series of stages in the repressive strategy of the Ortega regime, which has left at least 355 assassinated in the country, a thousand political prisoners and more than 100,000 Nicaraguans in exile.
