The Nicaraguan Human Rights Collective Never Again issued its seventh report on the “situation of torture in the country” in which they highlight the concentration of power that has allowed systematic attacks against opponents. From 2019 to date, the organization records 150 complaints from victims of torture.
“This report was the starting point of a new stage of repression, since the main actions in 2022 were carried out with sieges, seizure of real estate, arrest and prosecution of opposition leaders, journalists and independent media collaborators, artists, priests and even Sandinista militants who have issued criteria against the government. The concentration of power and the absolute demolition of the institutions by the Executive have made it easier for Nicaragua to become a de facto state of exception and a state of terror,” the document highlights.
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They denounce that Daniel Ortega “has installed a regime of suppression of all freedoms, through the control and surveillance of citizens and the repression exercised from state and para-state security institutions, all endorsed by the other powers of the State; in agreement with the control institutions. There is no system of checks and balances in the country since all institutions respond to the guidelines of the Executive, which has facilitated the installation of a system of torture against political prisoners.
“From 2019 to date, the Collective has received 150 complaints from victims of torture, and has monitored this situation in previous reports from the Nicaraguan Observatory against Torture, demonstrating the systematicity with which it is practiced with impunity,” the document refers.
The organization also reiterates that the regime continues to violate the basic rights of political prisoners because it considers that the rule of law does not exist in Nicaragua and that the penal and prison systems are used in a “discretionary” manner. Currently the Collective counts 215 people imprisoned by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship.
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In this sense, the organization reiterates that they continue to reject the “lack of timely and specialized medical care aimed at eroding the physical condition of political prisoners. Situation that has been maintained during the last semester. The lack of timely medical care has led to an increase in cases of hospitalization in the population of prisoners and political prisoners, and to the appearance and worsening of chronic diseases”, they consider that this constitutes a method of torture.
Since April 2018, Nicaragua has been experiencing a serious social, political, economic and human rights crisis unleashed by the bloody repression of the regime against the population. International organizations documented that crimes against humanity were committed in the country, they continue to demand respect for the rights of opposition citizens and freedom for those who have been imprisoned.
