International organizations condemned this Wednesday the murder of the Nicaraguan community leader Bernabé Palacios at the hands of an armed group in the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast of the country, and called for an investigation to prosecute and punish those responsible given the “extreme urgency” of the situation of indigenous people in the country.
Palacios, 44, belonging to the Alal community, Mayangna Sauni As territory, was killed on Monday, according to local media.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed in a statement its solidarity with the family of the indigenous leader; and said that the murder occurred in the context of defending the land.
A report issued by the Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN) indicates that armed conflicts in indigenous communities have left at least 49 people murdered between 2011 and 2020.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), based in Washington, solicitous this Wednesday to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to extend the provisional measures to residents of the Musawas and Wilú indigenous communities of the Mayangna Sauni As Territory, of the North Caribbean Coast Region in Nicaragua.
The Commission considered that the inhabitants of the identified communities are in an “extreme urgency” situation due to the irreparable damage to their rights.
“Provisional measures are issued by the Inter-American Court in cases of extreme gravity and urgency to avoid irreparable harm to people. They are obligatory for the States”, recalled the IACHR.
Nicaragua maintains in international forums that it is advancing in the defense of indigenous peoples and in the restitution of their rights. On April 21, the Nicaraguan ambassador to the UN, Jaime Hermida, said that in the country “pride of ethnic roots is promoted in all areas.”
However, experts question this official discourse. Recently, the lawyer Becky McCrea, who for years has worked as a defender of indigenous territories in Nicaragua, told the voice of america that the Nicaraguan State has left these communities defenseless and in some cases it has allowed forced displacement.
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