The Cenidh accused this Thursday the Government of President Daniel Ortega of wanting to “destroy organized society” in Nicaragua, after the annulment of 187 local NGOs since December 2018, including 50 on Wednesday.
“The Ortega Murillo regime (presidential couple) wants to destroy the organized society that has worked year after year so that Nicaraguans have health, education, jobs and defense of all their human rights,” denounced the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights. (Cenidh), one of the first organizations to be outlawed, in a statement.
The Sandinista majority of the National Assembly (Parliament), at the request of the Executive, canceled the legal status of 50 NGOs on Wednesday, bringing the total number of non-profit civil organizations illegal since December 2018 to 187, eight months after the outbreak of a popular revolt for controversial social security reforms described as an attempted coup by Ortega.
“The Cenidh condemns and denounces the cancellation of the legal personality of 50 NGOs,” said that body.
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“This action is the materialization of the threat of (vice president) Rosario Murillo: “Let’s go with everything”, the consummation of her extermination strategy. We call on the NGOs to firmly resist and continue working for Nicaragua,” she added.
The Cenidh informed that they will continue denouncing and condemning “these abuses of freedom of association”, even though they no longer have legal personality.
Nicaraguan activist Bianca Jagger joined Cenidh’s complaint about the illegalization of NGOs in Nicaragua.
THEY SEEK TO LIMIT THE RIGHT TO FREE ASSOCIATION
“Clearly these actions seek to intimidate, censor and limit the right to free association, making the civic and democratic space increasingly limited,” said the regional network Voces del Sur, in a statement.
“The members of the Red Voces del Sur believe that the Nicaraguan regime is setting harmful precedents for the population and the region, making significant setbacks in terms of fundamental rights and international regulations,” warned the aforementioned organization.
Voces del Sur, a regional network of civil society organizations in Latin America that work in coordination to promote and defend freedom of the press and expression, indicated that the “massive cancellation of NGOs in Nicaragua ratifies the elimination of the Right of Association”, which he described as an “outrage”.
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He also called on the international community “to condemn this new chapter of human rights violations in Nicaragua and continue to support civil society organizations and citizens in general.”
According to the Government of Nicaragua, the NGOs have failed to comply with the laws on the matter, which has been rejected by those affected.
Among the organizations that have been affected are NGOs that defend human rights, medical, feminist, educational, universities, environmentalists, indigenous, journalists and think tanks, among others.
The Executive has also canceled the registrations and perpetual numbers of four American and six European NGOs.
Nicaragua has been going through a political and social crisis since April 2018, which has been accentuated after the controversial general elections on November 7, in which Daniel Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term, fourth consecutive and second along with his wife, Rosario Murillo. , as vice president, with her main contenders in prison.
