The UK Government ad this Friday sanctions against 30 people and entities accused of human rights violations, among them two Nicaraguan officials: the mayor of the city of Matagalpa, Sadrack Zeledón Rocha, as well as the deputy mayor Yohaina Hernández.
Both Zeledón and Hernández were appointed based on the Global Human Rights Regimewhich allows the UK to prevent people involved in serious human rights violations and abuses from entering the UK or from funneling money through local banks.
Added to the same designation were Mian Abdul Haq, a Muslim cleric from Pakistan, whom the United Kingdom accuses of being responsible for “forced conversions and marriages of girls and women from religious minorities.”
Also General Kale Kayihura, Inspector General of Police in Uganda from 2005 to 2018. Kayihura is accused of human rights violations, including torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
Likewise Andrey Tishenin, a member of the Russian Federal Security Service in Crimea, Artur Shambazov, a senior detective in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Valentin Oparin, Major Justice of the Russian Federation, and Oleg Tkachenko, Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Rostov region. Oparin and Tkachenko, according to the United Kingdom, for having obstructed allegations of torture.
British Foreign Secretary Jame Cleverly said the sanctions are targeting “corrupt actors” and human rights abusers. “It is our duty to promote free and open societies throughout the world,” Cleverly said.
He also stated that they are committed to “using all the levers at our disposal to ensure a future of freedom from fear.”
The measures are announced within the framework of International Human Rights Day, which is celebrated every December 10.
Sanctioned mayor had been re-elected for 5 more years
The mayor of Matagalpa, Sadrack Zeledón, who was re-elected in the municipal elections of this 2022 to govern five more years, had previously been sanctioned by the United States in 2021.
The elections in which Zeledón was re-elected were accused of being “a farce” by opposition organizations such as open polls, an entity made up of Nicaraguan specialists.
Sadrack and the rest of the more than 100 mayors who govern the 153 municipalities of Nicaragua are attributed repressive actions against citizens opposing President Daniel Ortega, according to reports from human rights organizations, such as the cenidh.
During the demonstrations in 2018, human rights organizations denounced that the mayors colluded with police officers to suppress the demonstrations. that left more than 300 dead.
None of the councilors has directly referred to the sanctions issued by the United Kingdom government, however on previous occasions they have defended that in Nicaragua there was an attempted coup in 2018 against President Daniel Ortega.
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