A group of relatives of the so-called “political prisoners” of Nicaragua denounced this Tuesday “the serious situation” in which their relatives are in the cells of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance of the National Police, known as “El Chipote”.
The complaint was made by relatives after last Friday and Sunday they visited, for the eighth time in a year, the opponents, who are imprisoned accused of crimes considered “treason.”
“After this visit, we verified that their lives continue to be at risk, which is why we insist on our urgent call to the people of Nicaragua, the international community and the State of Nicaragua, to promote all possible actions to achieve immediate, unconditional and unconditional freedom. with guarantees for the more than 182 political prisoners,” the relatives said in a joint statement.
In the document, read at a virtual press conference, the relatives assured that “the physical deterioration continues”, as well as “an unbearable level of isolation between them and with the outside world”.
“We were able to observe that everyone is thinner, but we don’t know how much weight they have lost because they don’t tell them,” said the relatives, who considered that the main cause of this “is poor nutrition and the reduced portions they are given.”
Related news: IACHR extends precautionary measures to political prisoner Yubrank Suazo
“Many are experiencing chronic illnesses and ailments caused by imprisonment, however, the lack of timely medical care persists and they wait until the last minute to attend to them, when people are already very ill,” they denounced.
Due to the level of humidity in the cells, there are opponents with fungus and skin damage, according to their relatives.
Likewise, they denounced that their relatives “are taken out to sunbathe for a few minutes, every 7 to 10 days, but others have not been completely taken out to the sun patio and remain in solitary confinement.”
Our kidnapped relatives are in a total state of vulnerability in unhealthy cells, incommunicado, without reading or writing material. My daughter and I have not had any kind of contact with my husband. @Jschamorrog in 371 DAYS! ? Let’s say no to indifference!!! pic.twitter.com/NodlWIl2wI
— VickyCardenas (@VickyCardenasL) June 14, 2022
The demands of the relatives
Therefore, they demanded “an end to the isolation and solitary confinement in which many have remained for a year.”
Also, that they be allowed to interact and share time together during the sun patio, on a regular basis, and that they be allowed to receive weekly packages with food that supplies protein and vitamin deficiencies.
Also that the visits be regularized every 15 days and that their minor sons and daughters be allowed to visit them, and in the case of relatives who are outside the country, that telephone calls and the exchange of letters be allowed.
They also demanded that they be given a Bible, reading and writing material, as well as specialized medical attention in a timely manner, “including annual exams for women, and that they be informed of their results and appropriate treatments.”
Related news: Five opponents serve a year imprisoned “far from sunlight, human contact and torture”
At least 68 Nicaraguans, including opposition leaders, students, peasants, journalists and independent professionals, including seven dissidents who aspired to compete for the Presidency, were arrested in the context of the general elections on November 7 last.
Of that group, at least 57 have been sentenced to between 7 and 13 years in prison for crimes considered “treason against the country” or money laundering, of which 9 are under house arrest.
The Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, has branded the imprisoned, tried and convicted opponents as “traitors to the country”, “criminals” and “sons of bitches of the Yankee imperialists”.
