The Red Voces del Sur, which brings together various NGOs in the Americas, registered 71 cases of violations of press freedom in Nicaragua during July 2022. In addition, it documented a total of 6 alerts and followed up on two others generated in previous months.
The regional network report of monitoring and follow-up to freedom of the press in Nicaragua detailed that of the 71 documented cases «66 were perpetrated against the media, which totals 93%, and 5 against natural persons, which represents 7% of cases. Of the total of 71 registered cases, these fell among 9 victims; 5 natural persons and 4 media outlets. All natural persons are of the masculine gender.
In July, harassment, persecution, threats and raids on the homes of journalists who collaborate with the newspaper La Prensa were reported. Likewise, “the abusive use of police force, and in other cases by parastatals, forced almost 20 Nicaraguan journalists into exile,” most of them La Prensa workers.
Related news: They condemn the siege and the “judicial barbarity” undertaken against the independent press
“According to the media, many of his collaborators left the country without a passport or with this expired document, given the impossibility of renewing it due to the restrictions of the country’s Immigration and Immigration Directorate and the fear of being imprisoned during the process,” he said. The document.
«The exile of this newsroom was triggered by the kidnapping of two media drivers and the disproportionate police persecution against other collaborators. To date, a Sandinista judge has ordered the two drivers 90 days in detention for “investigation” into unspecified crimes,” he stressed.
“In total, during the month we have counted 17 journalists in exile and 12 internal displacements of reporters and other workers of independent media, they were forced to move to other departments of the country, due to the harassment and intimidation of which they were. victims by police officers and in other cases by known parastatals. At the request of the victims, in this report we omit their identity”, he added.
Likewise, the report by Voces del Sur recorded the case of a Nicaraguan journalist “who worked in a human rights organization” and the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship denied her entry into the country after she left for work reasons.
Also, it was reported “the denunciation of 5 cases of journalists (4 of them women) who were victims of violations of their fundamental rights but who, in order to avoid greater state repression, requested that they not be made public. We regret that self-censorship or the fear of denunciation is growing rapidly in Nicaragua; but we understand that state repression prevails, before the rights of citizens».
They advocate for Miguel Mora
The regional network joined the demand of the founder of 100% Noticias and a political prisoner of the regime, Miguel Mora Barberena, to be allowed to see his son Miguel Mora Chávez, a 21-year-old with motor disabilities.
Related news: La Prensa removes its workers from Nicaragua in the face of state persecution
“Until July 31, Mora Barberena completed 38 days of hunger strike as a form of protest so that they respect her right to have contact with her son, without the judicial authorities making a statement,” said Voces del Sur.
Faced with the refusal of the judicial authorities, the journalist Miguel Mora is on a hunger strike with the aim that his demand be heard.
They demand a stop to the “aggressions and threats” against journalists
Voces del Sur reiterated to the administration of Daniel Ortega “to put an end to the attacks and threats against journalists and independent media outlets,” because in the month of July around 20 Nicaraguan journalists were forced into exile. .
“The country continues to monopolize the international front pages not because of significant progress, but because of setbacks typical of the most recognized and hated authoritarian regimes in the world,” he stressed.
“The stage of repression, exile and censorship that the country is facing is more dramatic than the testimonies can make us imagine and surpasses the best narratives that the human mind can capture in reports such as ours and those of our allied organizations,” stressed.
