The spokesman for the European Union (EU), Peter Stano, pointed out this March 14 that the judges and prosecutors who have condemned some twenty political leaders of the Nicaraguan opposition “have systematically violated due process and the Penal Code itself,” for which he urged the Daniel Ortega regime to release all political prisoners and annul all judicial proceedings against them, including their sentences.
In a public statement, in which Stano referred to the conviction of the political prisoners, he refers to a press release from the Nicaraguan Prosecutor’s Office in which the detainees were described as “criminals” and “delinquents.” What he, he emphasized, is “violation of the presumption of innocence.”
According EU spokesmanas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Council have mentioned, “those imprisoned were detained for reasons incompatible with international human rights standards and the Nicaraguan Constitution” .
Nicaragua: Recent sentencing of political prisoners in closed-doors trials violate due process & penal code. Their detention &treatment violates intl human rights standards & ?? Constitution prisoners.?? expects immediate release of all political https://t.co/cQYbAYUp9G
— Peter Stano (@ExtSpoxEU) March 14, 2022
In addition, some forty political prisoners “have been held incommunicado for more than eight months, and some of them face daily interrogations or prolonged solitary confinement. They have only seen their families on rare occasions,” the statement said. “These conditions of detention pose a real risk to the physical and mental integrity of prisoners and may amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, or even torture,” he adds.
Finally, the EU spokesman urged the Nicaraguan government to “immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and annul all legal proceedings against them, including their sentences.”
He also reminded the Government of Daniel Ortega that it is responsible for ensuring that detention conditions comply with international human rights standards and with norms such as the UN Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Mandela Rules.
“We note that since the death in detention of Hugo Torres, on February 12, some elderly and sick detainees have been assigned to house arrest, but this can only be a first step”, warns Stano. The European Union “will continue to closely monitor the situation and support the Nicaraguan people in their legitimate aspiration to democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law,” he adds.
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