The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on Wednesday urged Nicaraguan authorities to cease “the widespread repression and religious persecution in the Central American country.”
In a statement, the IACHR also expressed its concern about “the continuation of arbitrary detentions and the serious conditions in which those in prison remain.”
The organization cites as an example the arrest in August of two collaborators of the Catholic Church and 12 priests, of whom seven were expelled to the Vatican after several days of arrest in Managua.
Since October 2023, authorities have exiled or prevented the entry into Nicaragua of more than 200 people associated with the Church, according to the IACHR.
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Daniel Ortega’s government maintains that the Church supported the 2018 anti-government protests, which they describe as an attempted coup sponsored by Washington.
More than 300 people died in those protests, according to the UN.
Vice President Rosario Murillo, Ortega’s wife, has accused religious figures of being “children of the devil” or “agents of evil” who carry out “spiritual terrorism.”
The IACHR also denounces the arbitrary detention of at least 141 people, who are being held in unsanitary conditions, with little access to drinking water, adequate food and medical care. It also warns of the lack of official information regarding the whereabouts and health condition of seven of those arrested.
