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MEPs approve resolution condemning detention of members of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua

condiciones para elecciones en Nicaragua

A large majority of the European Parliament (EP) approved this Thursday, September 15, a resolution on Nicaragua, which condemns “in the strongest terms” the repression and arrests of members of the Catholic Church in the country, in particular the arrest of the bishop Rolando Alvarez. While urging the Member States of the European Union (EU) and the Security Council of the United Nations to initiate “a formal investigation into Nicaragua and Daniel Ortega” for crimes against humanity.

The resolution, which is the product of the unification of six proposals from the parliamentary groups, was approved by 540 votes in favor, 19 against and 26 abstentions; 585 of the 705 EP members participated in the vote. In the document, MEPs ask the Nicaraguan regime that releases “immediately and unconditionally” to all political prisoners, including Bishop Álvarez, and “that annul all judicial proceedings against them and the sentences imposed.”

Currently, the Ortega and Murillo regime maintains 205 political prisoners, most of them remain in subhuman conditions in the El Chipote and La Modelo prisons, in Managua, according to the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners.

The European Parliament “condemns the abusive detention, the lack of procedural guarantees and the illegal convictions of political prisoners that have occurred in Nicaragua.” Therefore, “it expresses its concern about the manipulation of criminal law and the use of the judicial system as an instrument to criminalize the exercise of civil and political rights,” reads the third point of the resolution.

In that same order, the MEPs reiterate their request “that Nicaraguan judges and prosecutors be quickly included in the list of people sanctioned by the Union and that the list of people and entities sanctioned be expanded to include Daniel Ortega and his circle closest”. At the beginning of last June, a large majority of the European Parliament demanded that the EU sanction fourteen judges and three magistrates of Appeals.

The resolution also insists on the demand of the MEPs to the members of the EU and to the Security Council of the United Nations so that, in accordance with articles 13 and 14 of the Rome Statute, they initiate “a formal investigation into Nicaragua and Daniel Ortega” through the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

They also demand activating the democratic clause of the Association Agreement (AdA) between the EU and Central America, which would remove Nicaragua from the trade agreement. “Nicaragua must respect and consolidate the principles of the rule of law, democracy and human rights, in particular with regard to the provisions contained in title I” of the ADA, says the resolution.

They condemn the closure of civil organizations

In the resolution, the MEPs also condemned the cancellation of civil society organizations by the Ministry of the Interior (Migob) and the National Assembly, dominated by the ruling Sandinista Front.

The EP “regrets that on September 7, 2022 another 100 NGOs were closed, which brought the total number of NGOs closed in Nicaragua this year to 1,850”, calls on the Nicaraguan regime to “end the arbitrary closure” of civil society organizations and that “restore the status of legality to all organizations” that have been arbitrarily closed.

Finally, the MEPs condemn “the cancellation of the opposition political parties and the lack of freedom to organize and participate in the municipal elections of November 6, 2022” and “urge that the legitimate administrations be restored” in the mayors of El Cuá, San Sebastián de Yalí, Santa María de Pantasma, Murra and El Almendro; that were occupied military manual by supporters of the Sandinista Front and the Nicaraguan Institute for Municipal Development (Inifom), at the beginning of last July.

Prior to the approval of the resolution, this September 14, MEPs debated —for the second time this year— the deterioration of human rights in Nicaragua. An occasion in which MEP Gabriel Mato, from the Group of the European People’s Party, pointed out that “this despotic regime has no qualms about deepening the fracture with the international community even more”.

For this reason, the European legislator urged all parliamentary groups to “act with all possible tools and increase sanctions against the regime’s accomplices” and reiterated “the need to activate the democratic clause of the Association Agreement and to suspend any trade agreement with Nicaragua”.



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