The European Union (EU) condemned this Thursday the “arbitrary closure” of Catholic radio stations and other community media in Nicaragua, as well as the use of “excessive police force” to occupy the facilities.
Between Monday and Tuesday, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo canceled, through the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office (Telcor), eleven local stations, ten belonging to the Diocese of Matagalpa —directed by Bishop Rolando José Álvarez, one of the strongest critics of the president— and the independent Radio Vos. In addition, they took the local channel RB3 “El Canal de la Zona Láctea” off the air, whose programming was broadcast through subscription television.
In a statement released by its office in Managua, the EU noted that the cancellations constitute “another violation of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief.”
The EU recalled that “since 2018, the Nicaraguan government has unleashed unprecedented levels of violence against its own people, resorting to assassinations, enforced disappearances, imprisonment, harassment and intimidation against political opponents, journalists, human rights defenders, religious and other leaders. ”.
The Nicaraguan Police entered from Monday night by force to the Divina Misericordia parish, in Sébaco, in order to appropriate the equipment of one of the Catholic radio stations closed by the authorities.
The police officers keep the church occupied and the priest Uriel Vallejos is being held in a bedroom together with six parishioners.
IAPA, IACHR and RELE
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (RELE) condemned “the arbitrary closure” of Catholic radio stations, as well as the violent entry of police into the parish.
The IACHR and the RELE asked the State of Nicaragua to “cease the constant attacks against the Catholic Church” and “refrain from using its powers in telecommunications as a measure to limit or prevent the circulation of information, ideas and opinions.”
The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) denounced that the closure of the local media it is “part of a campaign that aims to eliminate all vestiges of an independent press.”
“With a single blow, the Nicaraguan government created a new information desert in the interior of the country, where the closed stations provided a valuable community service to thousands of people,” said Jorge Canahuati, president of the IAPA.
Ortega, “enemy of press freedom”
The president of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Carlos Jornet, indicated, for his part, that “the Police resorted to excessive use of violence against the closed stations, which indicates the high degree of impunity that Nicaraguan authorities enjoy in the most remote regions of the country”.
“The Ortega government is no longer only an enemy of press freedom, but also now seems to suppress freedom of worship and of thought in Nicaragua”, warned Jornet, director of the Argentine newspaper La Voz del Interior.
The IAPA called on the international community not to abandon the pressure for freedom of the press and democracy in Nicaragua.
Last April, the IAPA and 26 regional and international press organizations released the so-called Declaration of Nicaragua, which asks multilateral organizations and governments to adopt concrete actions to “force the Government of Nicaragua to stop human rights violations, the abuses of freedom of the press and restore democracy”.
EU demands release of political prisoners
“Currently, Nicaragua has more than 180 political prisoners, imprisoned without respect for the Nicaraguan Constitution, criminal law and due process,” he added.
Likewise, the agency highlighted the closure of “more than 1,200 civil society organizations, without adequate justification” so far in 2022.
“As a result, thousands of Nicaraguans from the most vulnerable sectors have been left without assistance,” he warned.
The EU urged the Nicaraguan authorities to cease “all repression and restore full respect for all human rights,” and made an “urgent call on the Nicaraguan government to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and annul all legal proceedings.” proceedings against them, including their convictions.”
The EU has applied sanctions to relatives of Ortega, including Vice President Murillo, and several of his children, as well as officials of his Government accused of human rights violations.
