The families of indigenous leaders of the Nicaraguan Mosquito Coast and deputies Brooklyn Rivera and Nancy Henríquez, and of the young Edgardo Antonio Cárcamo Díaz, have denounced before national and international public opinion that their relatives were not included in the group of 135 prisoners of conscience released and exiled to Guatemala and remain kidnapped by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
Last Thursday, September 5, the Managua regime imprisoned 134 political prisoners and one common prisoner, out of the 155 who were officially recognized by the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners. That is, there are still at least 20 prisoners of conscience in the Sandinista dungeons.
Since neither the United States government, which arranged the release of political prisoners through “secret talks,” nor the Nicaraguan regime has released an official list of those exiled, uncertainty is rife about all those released from prison and those who remained kidnapped. Only partial, unofficial lists are known, checked by the media and human rights organizations.
Deputies Rivera and Henriquez were not released
Tininiska Rivera, daughter of Congressman Brooklyn Rivera, issued a family statement this Thursday to denounce before the general population and “especially my brothers from the Honduran and Nicaraguan Mosquito Coast, the media, civil society organizations, friends and family of my father Brooklyn Rivera Bryan, who was not released as part of the group of 135 released political prisoners who are currently in Guatemala.”
The indigenous leader’s daughter recalls that her father was captured on September 29, 2023, and has already endured almost a year of his kidnapping “by the Nicaraguan government, led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo” and declared herself hurt by the non-release of her father because “we had hoped that he would be released.”
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“This is a clear violation of my father’s human rights, with no right to medical care, medication, family visits, his right to a lawyer, his right to due process, and his right to the presumption of innocence,” Rivera said.
He also expressed his solidarity with the relatives who find themselves in the same situation due to the fact that their relatives remain in the prisons of the dictatorship. “That is why I demand proof of my father’s life,” he insisted.
The indigenous leader’s daughter urged governments in the Americas to continue advocating for political prisoners in Nicaragua, “because they are human beings whose rights have been denied; and whom the government (Ortega-Murillo) has violated in whatever way it sees fit without anyone being able to say otherwise, because the only thing that awaits them is prison or death.”
For its part, the Organization of Indigenous Women of the Mosquitia of Nicaragua in exile also denounced that the alternate deputy for the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast (RACCN) Nancy Elizabeth Enríquez James, “leader of Yatama and leader of indigenous women,” was not included among the 135 people released and expelled from Nicaragua on September 5.
Henríquez was kidnapped on October 1, 2023, when she was tricked out of her home to testify in the case of the arrest of Brooklyn Rivera. She was transferred to Managua without notifying her family or informing them of the charges against her. She was then imprisoned in the La Esperanza Women’s Prison where she was tried and sentenced to eight years in prison without the right to a defense, for the alleged crimes of “undermining national integrity and spreading fake news.”
“Nancy Enrique has been denied medical care, as well as visits and the delivery of packages, clothing and food from her family. She is an elderly person whose health has worsened due to the conditions of her detention, without any explanation from the Ortega and Murillo regime as to why she was not included in the release and expulsion of the 135 people who were taken in by Guatemala,” the indigenous feminist organization denounces.
“For all the above reasons, we ask the international community, human rights organizations, women’s and feminist movements, and indigenous peoples and organizations to support us in demanding the immediate release of her and all political prisoners in Nicaragua,” the letter concludes.
Meanwhile, Edgardo Antonio Cárcamo Díaz’s family denounced “with deep concern” that their relative was not released on September 5, 2024. “Edgardo remains a political prisoner under the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.”
Cárcamo Díaz was kidnapped by the repressive forces of the dictatorship on August 8, 2023, along with other people who have already been released, while he continues to be arbitrarily deprived of his freedom. “He was detained solely for printing the photograph of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, an act that cost him his freedom,” denounces the family of the prisoner of conscience.
“We denounce the continued repression and violation of human rights that occurs in Nicaragua and reiterate our demand for the immediate release of Edgardo Antonio Cárcamo Díaz and all political prisoners who remain detained,” says the letter from the political prisoner’s family, made public on social media.
