The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and its Special Rapporteurships have ruled this Wednesday rejecting the conviction against Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, who was found guilty of the alleged crime of money laundering.
The IACHR also condemned the guilty pleas against other people linked to the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCh), among whom is Chamorro’s brother, former deputy Pedro Joaquín Chamorro.
Similarly, the organization and its rapporteurs condemned “the accelerated closure of public space in Nicaragua, which includes the recent decision to cancel the legal personality of 25 civil society organizations.”
Cristiana Chamorro was sentenced to eight months in prison on March 21. She is serving her sentence in her house under the figure of “house arrest”.
Meanwhile, his brother Pedro Joaquín and the rest of the workers are in the maximum security prison known as El Chipote, in Managua, whose conditions are “deplorable,” defense lawyers have said.
For the IACHR and its Special Rapporteurships, judicial decisions are directed by the Executive to close the civic space and seriously attack organizations that defend human rights, freedom of association and expression.
And it is that the Chamorro Foundation worked for press freedom in Nicaragua, benefiting hundreds of journalists in the country.
“The RELE expresses its concern, particularly, about the cancellation of the legal personality of the Association of Journalists of Nicaragua (APN) and the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCh), and the previous cancellation of PEN Nicaragua, organizations dedicated to the defense of freedom of expression and the promotion of quality journalism in the country”, indicated the IACHR body.
Finally, both the IACHR and its Rapporteurships called on the authorities to release the people “arbitrarily detained, and to cease all types of judicial, administrative, or any other kind of persecution against the people and organizations that carry out legitimate activities of democratic relevance and , therefore, specially protected by international law”.
The UN will vote to establish an accountability mechanism
The IACHR statement comes amid other efforts by the international community that are pressing for the cessation of judicial proceedings against more than 50 political prisoners in Nicaragua
The United Nations Human Rights Council ad on social networks that he will vote this Thursday for a resolution that would establish an accountability mechanism for Nicaragua, after the 2018 protests.
This mechanism is a request made by a coalition of 21 national and international human rights organizations that seek to verify whether Ortega “has not ceased the persecution” against dissidence in Nicaragua and, on the contrary, has increased repression.
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