The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (Ghren), attached to the United Nations (UN), presented this morning the report on crimes against humanity committed by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in the framework of the social protests of 2018. They demand accountability and justice for the victims of the repression.
The experts denounce that the regime of Daniel Ortega “instrumentalized all the powers of the State against the opposition, real or perceived as such.” They ensure that this situation helps impunity “prevail in the face of these crimes that allowed the escalation of violence against people in the opposition or perceived as such.”
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Jan Simon, president of the group of experts, said during the presentation that the report contains 159 cases and was carried out with interviews with 291 victims and witnesses, it documents human rights violations such as extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, torture that included sexual violence, or arbitrary deprivation of nationality, among other abuses.
The experts urgently request the Ortega and Murillo regime to immediately put an end to the abuses and ensure the accountability of those responsible for them, guaranteeing justice for the victims.
They also request the immediate release of all persons arbitrarily deprived of their liberty and “implement the necessary measures to guarantee the separation of powers” which, for the experts, is the impediment to obtaining justice for the victims and the criminalization of the victims. same.
Simon highlighted during the presentation that they could not carry out investigations within Nicaragua due to the refusal of permission by the dictatorship, although they did carry out five missions to nearby areas of the territory.
The report concludes that behind these crimes against humanity are both Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, and senior officers of the National Police, as well as other state entities.
Following the intervention of the expert, the Attorney General of Nicaragua, Wendy Morales, addressed a few words before the plenary, continuing with the “anti-imperialism” speech replicated by the presidential couple. “They act under the guidelines of imperial powers whose sole purpose is to harm our independence and sovereignty,” said the official.
“We will not allow these malicious reports to continue discrediting and denigrating our authorities, our institutions, or our legal system,” concluded Morales, who, upon leaving the session, avoided making statements regarding the report presented by the UN experts.
