Monsignor Carlos Avilés, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Managua, denounced in the Spanish Catholic press the permanent and continued harassment against the Nicaraguan Church under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. He revealed that, for example, “the house of Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes is under constant surveillance. There are always several police officers on the corner and everyone who comes to deliver a document, or for a meeting with the archbishop, they ask the reason for his visit, they ask for his identification document, they take photos.
The Catholic leader told the Alpha and Omega newspaper of the Archbishopric of Madrid that the objective of this persecution is to prevent the Catholic Church from denouncing the human rights violations that are being experienced in the country. “They want a silent Church, but not to speak would be a sin,” said Monsignor Avilés
The Office of the Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (Redesca) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented its 2021 report, which indicates that, in Nicaragua, workers in the health sector have suffered a disproportionate impact in recent times, both due to the pandemic and acts of bullying, harassment, and intimidation perpetrated by State agents.
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He also paid special attention to the situation of academic freedom and student leaders, emphasizing issues such as the closure of private universities, the expulsion of students, and party control on campus. The REDESCA He rejected the acts of intimidation and urged the State of Nicaragua to guarantee the rights of nationals.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) denounced that the Ortega-Murillo regime is trying to eliminate the space for independent civil society by closing NGOs en masse. The FIDH indicated that, in less than a month, the deputies have outlawed 177 non-profit organizations and Nicaraguan foundations, totaling more than 400 closed since December 2018. According to the organization, these cancellations seek to eliminate any possible social vision and policy that differs from that established by the regime and urged the Nicaraguan authorities to immediately revoke these arbitrary decisions
The Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (IM-Defensoras) He pointed out that, of the 96 NGOs canceled on Thursday, June 2, nine are feminists or work for women’s rights. With this attack, Ortega officials have illegally canceled more than 50 organizations dedicated to this area since the 2018 crisis, added the Mesoamerican Initiative. She indicated that the act leaves Nicaraguans in a vulnerable situation in a country where femicides already exceed 70 cases a year.
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The organization said that this is a new “arbitrary act of the neoliberal, corrupt, misogynistic and totalitarian government of Daniel Ortega” and called on the international community to join the closed NGOs and “become aware of the seriousness of the situation experienced by those who defend human rights in Nicaragua.
The independent electoral observatory Open Ballot Boxes informed that he will participate in the IX Summit of the Americas, which will take place between June 6 and 10 in the United States, to which Daniel Ortega is not invited. The representatives of the observatory will expose “the human rights violations that Nicaragua is experiencing and the deterioration of democracy in the country” and how Daniel Ortega has used the powers of the State as arms of his repressive and authoritarian strategy in the country. In addition, they will take the complaint to the IX Social Sciences Conference, CLACSO, to be held in Mexico City next week, where another delegation will participate.
Within the framework of the Ninth Summit of the Americas, the Latin American Consortium on Human Rights —which is led by the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality)—, On June 8, the event called “Prisoners for what? People imprisoned for political reasons in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela».
Victoria Cardenaswife of political prisoner Juan Sebastián Chamorro, who will participate for Nicaragua, told Article 66 that “we want to visualize the situation of political prisoners at the Summit of the Americas, since it is a highly topical issue and one that needs to be addressed at such an important meeting of governments, businessmen, and civil society on human rights issues, so we want to expose and visualize the situation of political prisoners in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba».
