The regime of Daniel Ortega persists in its cruelty against the political prisoners held in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), El Chipote, depriving them for 59 days of contact with their relatives; the second longest period incommunicado since they were kidnapped at the end of May 20twenty-one.
The relatives of the 27 political prisoners sentenced to sentences of between seven and 13 years in prison, remain pending on their phones, with full anxiety, waiting to be notified about the schedule of visits, but it never happens. Every week, DAJ officers ask family members for their phone numbers without explaining why. “We don’t know if they do it with the intention of getting us excited and then nothing happens,” says Fernanda Guevara, wife of political prisoner Róger Reyes.
Guevara wakes up several times during the night thinking about Reyes. He wonders if he ate, if he managed to fall asleep himself, if he maintains the hunger strike that began on September 20, 34 days ago, to demand that the authorities allow them a visit with their two daughters. He also thinks if he will be sick and they will tell him until he is seriously ill in a hospital.
These are thoughts running through her mind during this prolonged time of incommunicado detention with her husband, the first since he was kidnapped on August 20, 2021. “It is a lot of anguish” and “terrible sadness” to remain without knowing when she will see him again, she says. This past Friday she was hoping they would call, but she soon became convinced that it would be another week of uncertainty.
The relatives demanded last October 17 “visits now!” to confirm the physical and emotional health condition of prisoners of conscience, they warned in a statement. They denounced the isolation as part of the psychological torture to which prisoners of conscience are subjected.
César Dubois, husband of the political prisoner and leader of Unamos, Suyen Barahona, assured that all the relatives have asked about the visits, but they do not give them information. Margin Pozo, wife of the political prisoner and sports writer, Miguel Mendoza, says that every day is “very desperate” for not knowing about your spouse. She doesn’t sleep, she doesn’t feel hungry and she is always thinking about how Miguel will be, who has been on a hunger strike for 33 days demanding to see his eight-year-old little Alejandra.
“I imagine that he is underweight after all this time that he has been on a hunger strike. So far I do not know if he continues with the hunger strike, more than 30 days have passed, hopefully, I hope to God that he has suspended it for his health, for his life because it is not worth risking his life in these circumstances or that place ” Well said.
His wife is very concerned about his state of health, since in previous visits, Mendoza shared with her the discomforts he suffered, such as cramps and fatigue. To this is added the deprivation of food that in a diabetic person like him, the consequences could be very severe. “I know it is an act of love, the greatest act of love that a father can make towards her daughter in order to see her, but his life and health are also at risk,” she warned.
Cruelty of the regime: they do not allow visits by minors
Pozo was talking with a relative about the nine-year sentence applied to her husband for exercising his right to freedom of expression, while their little girl was playing. At night, Alejandra began to cry, she asked what was wrong with her. The girl replied that she had heard that her father would spend nine years in prison and that her heart was “suffering” because when she got out of it she would be 17 years old.
“And my dad, in all this time that he doesn’t see me, he won’t love me, he won’t love me. They won’t let me see it. He will no longer recognize me because I will not be the same girl he left behind, “she told Pozo, for whom it was very painful to see her in that state. Alejandra she has not seen her father for more than 15 months, despite the fact that he is a right. In prison they have not even allowed Mendoza to see the drawings and messages that the minor sends him. “An eight-year-old girl who doesn’t see her father for so long is like her father has practically disappeared,” says Pozo.
Despite the hunger strike in Mendoza, the family has not received a response or information “that indicates that they have the will – to authorize the visit of the minor – because it is not a favor, it is compliance with the regulations, it is a right that the girl has ”, claims his wife.
For Pozo it would be very painful if Mendoza’s sacrifice was in vain. “It would hurt me a lot if Alejandra couldn’t see her father, having that right as a minor, the right to a family, which is a universal right. The right to have that affection from her father. It would be really unfair all the sacrifice that has been made in all this time, “he stressed.
Guevara has also received no response to Reyes’ demand, who is also on a hunger strike in El Chipote. However, she assures that “nothing is in vain” because she maintains the faith that her husband will be able to see her girls. “I tell you that at some point Róger is going to see his daughters, I don’t know if he’s going to be released, I don’t know if it’s going to be tomorrow, but I know that my husband is going to see my daughters again and that it’s my faith And I know that he is a man of faith and we are believing for a miracle,” she expressed.
Both Pozo and Guevara have their trust in God in the face of the adversities they are experiencing with their husbands in prison and on hunger strike. In addition to them, the former guerrilla Dora María Téllez and the political prisoner Irving Larios are also on a hunger strike demanding an end to torture and respect for their human rights.
Previously, political prisoners Tamara Dávila and Miguel Mora went on a hunger strike to see their children -6 and 21 years old respectively-. The visit was granted on August 20, after Dávila served five days and Mora 59 in deprivation of food. The regime has also not granted a call for Suyen, despite repeated requests from her relatives, her husband confirmed.
CONFIDENTIAL confirmed, with reports from human rights defenders and relatives of prisoners of conscience, that at least 18 minors still do not see or have any kind of communication with their parents, unjustly imprisoned in 2021.
The political prisoners subjected to isolation and incommunicado detention with their children are: the journalist and sports writer Miguel Mendoza; the opposition and president of the Renovating Democratic Union (Unamos), Suyen Barahona; the political scientist José Antonio Peraza; the lawyer Róger Reyes, and the former candidate for the presidency Félix Maradiaga.
Also the lawyer and human rights defender María Oviedo; businessman Luis Rivas Anduray; the peasant leader Medardo Mairena, and the former workers of the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCh), Walter Gómez and Marcos Fletes.
