Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo and 14 officials of his dictatorship will be investigated and tried by a court in the Republic of Argentina, after being denounced for committing crimes against humanity. Lawyers Darío Richarte and Diego Pirota presented on August 26 the formal complaint against the Nicaraguan dictatorial couple and their entourage of high-ranking officials, including presidential advisers, ministers, heads of autonomous entities and police and military chiefs. All officials of the Managua regime are sanctioned by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
The complaint, to which he had access Article 66points out that the complaint is against Ortega, Murillo and the others responsible for the state, police, military and paramilitary structure used to commit crimes against humanity in the territory of that Republic and is based on article 7 of the Rome Statute and on the basis of the principle of universal jurisdiction that emerges from article 118 of the National Constitution of Argentina.
The accusation includes a series of reports from international and national human rights organizations in Nicaragua such as Amnesty International (AI), Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OACNUDH), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), among others.
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According to the legal document, there are reasons to think that the deaths of the more than 355 people murdered in the context of the social protests would have occurred with the knowledge of the highest authorities of the Nicaraguan State, including the President of the Republic, Daniel Ortega. In addition, it has been possible to document acts of obstruction and cover-up by some government officials, carried out with the aim of preventing the exhaustive investigation of the facts.
“The State used excessive force, and the use of lethal force was generalized, disproportionate and, on many occasions, indiscriminate, and cases of possible extrajudicial executions were documented, which constitute a serious violation of human rights and a crime of law. international”, point out the Argentine lawyers.
The lawyers consider that the actions of the Nicaraguan dictatorship are a systematic violation of human rights and the commission of criminal actions that consisted of the murder of dissident demonstrators, the deprivation of medical attention to the wounded, imprisonment and illegal deprivation of liberty that , in many cases, turned into forced disappearance of people, torture and mistreatment. In addition, that this situation pushes the population to emigrate to other countries in order to protect their rights, their physical integrity and their lives.
Chiefs of Police, Army and Presidential Advisors
Among the accused are Francisco Javier Díaz Madriz, in-law of the dictatorial couple and head of the National Police; Néstor Moncada Lau, presidential adviser on security issues; Julio César Avilés Castillo, commander in chief of the Nicaraguan Army; Oscar Mojica Obregón, head of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI); Gustavo Eduardo Porras Cortés, president of the National Assembly; Roberto José López Gómez, president of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS); Oscar Valladares; and Sonia Castro González, former health minister and current presidential adviser on health issues.
The list is completed by Leonardo Ovidio Reyes Ramírez, president of the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), the late Orlando José Castillo Castillo, former president of the Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office (Telcor); Fidel Antonio Moreno Briones, General Secretary of the Mayor’s Office of Managua; José Francisco López Centeno, vice president of Alba de Nicaragua (Albanisa) and treasurer of the ruling party; Ramón Antonio Avellán Medal, General Commissioner of the National Police and Lumberto Ignacio Campbell Hooker, Vice President of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE).
The president of the BCN, Ovidio Reyes, is singled out “as a financing instrument for the Ortega-Murillo family and for criminal operations. The former health minister, Sonia Castro, is accused of being responsible for giving the order not to treat opponents injured in social protests and for the massive dismissal of health workers. Police chiefs Francisco Díaz and Ramón Avellán are accused of supporting and directing the state repression against protesters who were killed in the context of the 2018 social protests.
The accusation requests that those involved in crimes against humanity be summoned to give a statement, through the corresponding mechanisms and in case of non-appearance, the international capture of the Ortega officials is arranged and the pertinent organizations are communicated to make it effective. .
Federal Judge Ariel Lijo, who is handling the case against Ortega and his entourage, is a respected and prominent judge in Argentina. In his professional career, he has heard cases against high-ranking officials of the governments of Presidents Carlos Menem and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner; he also investigated former Vice President Amado Boudou and former President Mauricio Macri. Now it is his turn to investigate the accusation of crimes against humanity against Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo and 14 high-ranking officials of the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
