The representative of Nicaragua before the Organization of American States (OAS), Arturo Mcfields, denounced before the Permanent Council of the organization that days before denouncing the Nicaraguan regime he had advocated the release of some 20 political prisoners, from the group of the elderly ; but “no one paid any attention to me. In the government, no one listens and no one speaks,” said the former Ortega official in his live virtual intervention with delegates from the entity.
“Days before announcing our withdrawal from the OAS, we had a virtual meeting with the Foreign Ministry and a team of presidential advisers. In that
meeting I suggested that consideration be given to releasing at least 20 elderly political prisoners and 20 other common criminals whose health deserves special consideration. This would be something humanitarian and politically intelligent, since no one should die in jail being innocent or due to lack of minimal or non-existent health conditions. No one paid any attention to me,” he said. Nicaraguan ambassador.
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In that sense, he added that «at that moment I was told “we are not even going to take note of that comment because you could lose your job already
The more the right is given, the more it wants.” In the government no one listens and no one speaks. I tried several times, for several months, but all the doors were closed to me.
In Nicaragua there are at least 21 detained opponents over the age of 60 who are experiencing a “humanitarian crisis” due to their age and health conditions. “If they don’t have medication (in prison), for our older prisoners it’s serious, because due to their age they can no longer resist. We are facing a humanitarian crisis”, recently denounced the leader of the Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners (AFPP), Ulises Rivas.
Imprisoned opponents of advanced age are victims of physical and mental illnesses, as a result of a confinement that humanitarian organizations have described as “unfair.” The AFPP assures that the political prisoners suffer an “alarming weight loss, vision problems or blindness due to inadequate lighting in the cells, dental problems due to insufficient food, alterations in their metabolism, allergies and other dermatological problems, sequelae by COVID-19, and effects on his mental health due to isolation ».
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Concern about detained older adults has grown after the death of the historic Sandinista combatant Hugo Torres, 73, who was transferred from prison to a hospital where he died on February 12 in police custody due to an illness not yet revealed by The authorities.
A week after the death of Torres, the Ortega justice system sent home, under house arrest, Arturo Cruz, 68, Nicaraguan presidential candidate, former Foreign Minister Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, 77, and former Vice Foreign Minister José Bernard Pallais. Spider, 68 years old. A few days later, former diplomats Edgard Parrales, 79, and Mauricio Díaz, 71, joined this precautionary regime.
According to the Law on the Penitentiary Regime and Execution of the Sentence, prisoners “over 70 years of age or who suffer from chronic or terminal illnesses will be granted the benefit of the family coexistence regime, after assessment by the forensic doctor.”
