The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship (MREC) of Costa Rica issued a complaint against the “arbitrary appropriation” of the nationality of more than 300 Nicaraguans by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
“For Costa Rica, which maintains a strong presence in international human rights forums, the situation in the sister country contradicts the obligations that every state has within the framework of international law, which prohibits arbitrarily depriving nationality for racial, ethnic, religious reasons. or politicians,” said Minister Christian Guillermet-Fernández.
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The statement issued by Foreign Affairs mentions that, “in this way, Costa Rica joins what has been indicated by the United Nations and other multilateral organizations, which indicate that the measures taken by the Nicaraguan authorities, to promote a legislative reform that allows the arbitrary deprivation of a person of citizenship, contravenes the Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons of 1954 and the Convention to Reduce the Cases of Stateless Persons of 1961, of which Nicaragua is a party.”
“Costa Rica calls and urges Nicaragua to comply with its international obligations to guarantee the enjoyment of the right to nationality and to take measures to prevent and eradicate statelessness, and especially, to respect the human rights of its citizens” Add.
The statement ends by highlighting that “Costa Rica is monitoring the issue of political prisoners in Nicaragua.” The neighboring southern country has consistently denounced the crimes against humanity committed by the dictatorship that currently holds Bishop Rolando Álvarez, the priest Manuel Salvador García and Monsignor Leonardo Urbina in captivity.
Ortega reformed article 21 of the Political Constitution of the Republic to remove Nicaraguan nationality from dissident voices to his regime. Lawyers and local and international human rights organizations have affirmed that what the Ortega judges did was in violation of international law.
Various countries of the international community have asked Ortega to reverse his decision and restore the rights of the people affected by the loss of Nicaraguan nationality, but the regime turns a deaf ear to these calls.
