The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) heard on Wednesday the relatives of the 45 detainees in Nicaragua, considered by international community organizations as “political prisoners” and on whom this regional court has issued rulings ordering their release.
The relatives of the journalist and former presidential candidate Miguel Mora, the businessman and former presidential candidate, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, as well as the human rights defender Evelyn Pinto and the activist Eliseo Castro –among other convicts in summary trials without the right to defense – exposed the “precarious” situation of the detainees before the judges of the Court.
Juan Sebastián Chamorro’s niece, Margarita Urtado, explained that they have not known her uncle’s whereabouts for 75 days, as they have no information about him in the prison where he was detained or official news about whether he has been transferred.
“Again, like when he was captured, he has disappeared, in 75 days we know nothing of his whereabouts,” she told the judges at the hearing held in San José, Costa Rica, where she also resides as an exile.
The story is similar in the case of journalist Miguel Mora, whose health condition has worsened due to chronic diabetes and “has been subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment,” explained his sister Karla Mendoza, who reminded the judges that the Nicaraguan government has not complied with the sentences issued by that court.
The human rights organizations that attended the hearing estimated at around 200 the number of prisoners detained and prosecuted under the laws created by the government of Daniel Ortega to repress opponents, since the political crisis worsened in 2018.
The Inter-American Court has issued several judgments with provisional measures for 45 detainees, including journalists, human rights defenders and businessmen, the majority captured in the middle of last year, accused by the government of Daniel Ortega of different charges such as “conspiracy”, terrorism” and “treason against the homeland ”.
The captures of possible candidates to the presidency of Nicaragua and opposition activists occurred in the run-up to the electoral campaign and that paved the way for Daniel Ortega to run alone for re-election, which the United States and the European Union ignored for lack legitimacy.
The presiding judge of the Inter-American Court, Ricardo Pérez, said that the matter is of “great importance” for that regional court and that “he has expressed his concern about this issue” in high-level regional discussions such as in the recently held General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Lima, Peru.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) participated in that hearing with the presentation of Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena, who said that the Nicaraguan government continues to fail to comply the judgments of that courtto which it is obliged as a signatory of the Inter-American Charter.
“In the matter of the 45 persons deprived of liberty, the court required the State to comply with the immediate orders, and to facilitate periodic contact with their relatives, their children, their lawyers (…) the Commission observes that none of the orders issued by the Court IDH has been fulfilled to date”, he pointed out.
The defenders of the case also explained to the judges about the situation of the detainees, which is explained from the total control of the State apparatus and the instances of justice by the government of Daniel Ortega with the co-opted judiciary.
As usual, the Nicaraguan government declined to participate in this hearing of the Inter-American Court. Regarding the arrests, Daniel Ortega has stated in the past that the United States is supporting his political opponents in an attempt to remove him from power.
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