Residents of the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast (RACCN) alerted that the Police of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo do not provide them with any type of information about at least 19 young people, from the municipalities of Bilwi and Waspam, who were detained for a weekthen they protested against the results of the “municipal electoral farce” issued by the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE).
“Giving names (of the detainees) for now implies greater retaliation for the indigenous prisoners that we have here, in Bilwi and also in Waspam,” explained “Walter”, a member of the Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Asla Takanka (Yatama) indigenous party who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.
Although there is no official count, “Walter” counted 19 indigenous youth detained between November 7 and 14. “Among them there are adolescents, between 16 and 18 yet to turn, who are students who have missed several days of school and the families in one way or another have gone to the community radio stations to announce that their children are detained,” he said.
For his part, the leader of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) movement, Luis Fley, denounced from exile that at least 14 young people from the coast were detained in the days after the “municipal electoral farce” and that since then they have no further information about they.
The arrests occurred “as a result of the protest that took place over the robbery of the city halls,” Fley said. “We have a presence in that area and we were supporting (the regional party),” which claims to have won the Waspam mayoralty, despite the fact that the CSE assigned it to the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).
In recent days, the regime’s Police repressed and harassed members of Yatama, first when they carried out a parallel count on the results of the “municipal electoral farce” in Waspam and then when they tried to celebrate their founding anniversary in the city of Bilwi.
Police do not provide information
The regime Police have not explained the reasons for the arrest to the relatives of the detainees and have not allowed them to see them either. Situation that causes uncertainty and concern for not knowing what will happen to them.
“The Police only say that they are going to have the kids (young people) because according to (them) they have a criminal record and that is why they have not been released,” commented “Walter.”
The little information that is known about the young detainees is that “they are not being given food or water and they have not been allowed to bathe. It is an ugly treatment from the mestizo policemen who have come to Bilwi”, commented “Walter”.
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) condemned the repression of young people from the coast and demanded their immediate release. “The indigenous peoples of the Caribbean coast are also Nicaragua,” he pointed out.
?? On November 6, the Ortega Murillo regime once again carried out “electoral processes” far from the customs of indigenous peoples, imposing rigged results that they rejected by exercising their legitimate right to protest. pic.twitter.com/3ZGQ9WMB9E
— Cenidh (@cenidh) November 17, 2022
Similarly, some residents of the Moskitia expressed on social networks their fear that the young people from the coast would be transferred to the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, known as El Chipote, in Managua.
Repression in the Caribbean
The afternoon of Friday, November 11 dozens of riot police of the Police surrounded the house of the Yatama regional party in the municipality of Bilwi, preventing supporters of this political organization from carrying out a meeting scheduled to commemorate its 36th anniversary of foundation.
The citizen observatory Urnas Abiertas denounced that the day of police siege began “from early hours” at Casa Verde, as the Yatama headquarters in the Caribbean is known, and at the end of the afternoon the atmosphere in the city was “quite tense”.
In videos released on social networks, riot officers deployed in different parts of the city can be seen firing tear gas at a group of residents who are running desperately.
Our solidarity with the population of Bilwi and Waspán, on the Caribbean Coast, which is being repressed by the Ortega Murillo dictatorship. We demand that their physical integrity, their rights and autonomy be respected. #SOSNicaragua pic.twitter.com/C1KpkJO2qV
— Blue and White National Unity (@UnidadNic) November 12, 2022
The day before, Urnas Abiertas reported a police siege in the municipality of Waspam, north of Puerto Cabezas and on the banks of the Río Coco.
“We denounce the militarization that the indigenous population of the Waspam municipality is experiencing, on the North Caribbean Coast. We received reports of police siege, deployment of riot police, drone overflights, patrolling, searches and checkpoints,” the observatory said on its social media on November 10.
On Monday, November 7, one day after the “municipal electoral farce” in which the FSLN won 100% of the mayoralties, police sieges and attacks on residents of Puerto Cabezas were also reported.
