Delegates from indigenous territories of the North Caribbean of Nicaragua demanded that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo carry out “urgently the cleaning of the invaded indigenous territories as mandated by Law 445, Law of the Communal Property Regime of indigenous peoples.”
In the resolution of the General Assembly of the Muskitia of March 21, 2022, they also demand justice for the crimes against indigenous people perpetrated by settlers, the prosecution of those involved in the illegal sales of indigenous lands and compensation to the communities for the damage caused to forests and the ecosystem, culture and community ways of life.
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“We flatly refuse coexistence or cohabitation between indigenous people and settlers, due to the high risk of ethnocide and the prevailing impunity for crimes against life and community property. You cannot live with those who have violated our rights and seek by all possible means to take away our communal heritage, “the community leaders point out.
In the document they also denounce the “delaying tactics of the Government of Nicaragua to duly address the serious crisis of property and rights that we are experiencing in our territories.” They hint that the Caribbean community will defend itself against the next attacks by the settlers “as part of their right to self-determination, they reserve the right to define their forms of defense of their communal property.”
“We hold the Government responsible for the consequences that may come both for the indigenous population and for the settlers themselves. We categorically affirm that there are no arrangements of any kind between the indigenous communities and the settlers for the lease of community lands, through their community assemblies”, they say.
“We recognize that we cannot wait any longer for state institutions, because we see with great pain that the invasions are advancing unstoppably,” they add.
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The territorial leaders point out that any more deaths of indigenous people as a result of the property conflict “will be the responsibility of the National Police, responsible for public security, and the Nicaraguan Army, responsible for disarming settlers who roam in our forests equipped with weapons of war. ».
On March 2, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, presented to the plenary session of the UN Human Rights Council the updated report on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua, a document in which highlights the violation of the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Nicaraguan Caribbean, denouncing before the international community that the peoples continued “suffering discrimination and violence.”
They ask Ortega to “proceed with a prompt, effective, exhaustive, independent, impartial and transparent investigation of all armed attacks against indigenous peoples, bring the alleged perpetrators to justice within a fair process and punish those responsible.”
