Since the release of at least 222 political prisoners in Nicaragua With the support of the United States government, the administration of President Daniel Ortega has again raised the number of people arrested, according to human rights organizations.
Yaritza Mairena, representative of the Union of Nicaraguan Political Prisoners (UPPN) has described these new arrests as “a strategy called revolving door” that consists of imprisoning new figures.
“The list of political prisoners has tripled since February 2023. To date, there are more than 100 detainees,” says Mairena.
Of these, 108 are men, 23 are women and 18 of these people are older adults.
Meanwhile, the Union of Nicaraguan Political Prisoners (UPPN) maintains on its list three cases of forced disappearance, which are: Brooklin Rivera, a former deputy indigenous; and opponents of the government of Daniel Ortega, Freddy Quezada and Carlos Bojorge.
“It is not known if they are alive, their family has not received any information from the State,” Mairena lamented.
On the list of more than 100 political prisoners there are from tiktokerssuch as Geovany López Acevedo, who was arrested by the National Police on November 22, for criticizing, in a broadcast on that social network, the presenters of the pro-government Channel 13.
There is also a journalist in custody, Victor Ticay, sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for broadcasting an activity of the Catholic Church on his media outlet La Portada.
Similarly, there are at least three female students detained, according to the Union of Nicaraguan Political Prisoners.
Nicaraguan political prisoners in critical condition
Yader Valdivia, from the Nicaragua Never Again Human Rights Collective, based in Costa Rica, explains to the Voice of America that after the release of 222 political prisoners in February 2022, the outlook for current political prisoners has “changed greatly.”
“There has been a decline in the demand for the release of political prisoners because they are not high profile, as they were before when they were presidential candidates or analysts,” laments Valdivia.
For this reason, he believes that there has been pressure from the international community in this regard.
Valdivia mentions that on the other hand there has been a decrease in the number of relatives of political prisoners reporting the condition of their relatives.
“They are very afraid that visits to some of their relatives will be suspended,” says Valdivia.
For her part, Yaritza Mairena, from the UPPN, states that in this new scenario, “arbitrariness” continues and some inmates “continued to present serious problems of overcrowding.”
“The cells, often without adequate ventilation, lack hygiene and access to basic services such as drinking water and medical care,” Mairena said.
The majority of Nicaraguan political prisoners are divided between two large prisons, La Esperanza, where the women are held, and the Jorge Navarro Penitentiary System, known as La Modelo, where the men are held.
“The quality of the food provided to political prisoners is poor and lacking in nutrition, which has led to cases of malnutrition. Although some improvement has been reported in the diet of some female political prisoners, the vast majority of people still do not have access to healthy and nutritious food,” Mairena said.
“In addition, medical care is inadequate and negligent, with many prisoners lacking access to essential medicines and treatments for chronic diseases.”
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