In the report, supported by the European Union and Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil and Mexico, the group, an independent body with a mandate from the UN Human Rights Council, urges that Nicaragua “be held accountable” before the International Court of Justice
A group of UN experts demanded this Thursday that the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo answer for “serious violations” of human rights, including “crimes against humanity”, denouncing for the first time before the General Assembly the “systematic” repression in Nicaragua.
Ortega and Murillo took absolute power, restricted freedoms and annihilated internal opposition after the 2018 protests that left some 300 dead, considered by Managua an attempted coup d’état sponsored by Washington.
The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua asked UN members to demand “responsibilities” from husband and wife Ortega and Murillo, whom they accuse of committing “extrajudicial executions,” “forced disappearances” and “torture.”
The group leader, Jan-Michael Simon, also accused the co-presidents of “stripping nationality” and property from opponents and critics, and extending repression outside of Nicaragua with “international crimes.”
«The international community must not limit itself to being a witness; “must adopt concrete measures – legal actions, prosecutions and selective sanctions,” Ariela Peralta, a member of the group, said in a statement.
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The panel recalled in its report the murder in Costa Rica last June of retired Major Roberto Samcam, a critical voice in exile and in whose crime experts do not rule out the participation of the Nicaraguan government and army.
“The government has built a persecution machinery that follows its citizens abroad” and the exiles “live in constant fear,” Reed Brody, an expert on the panel, added in the statement.
In the report, supported by the European Union and Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil and Mexico, the group, an independent body with a mandate from the UN Human Rights Council, urges that Nicaragua “be held accountable” before the International Court of Justice.
Backed by Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, China, Iran and Russia, the Nicaraguan representative in the Assembly, Eleane Pichardo, rejected the report, pointing out that it lacks “legitimacy” and justifies “aggressions” against Nicaragua.
The United States announced that it is studying applying tariffs of up to 100% to Nicaragua for human rights violations.
According to opposition reports, Ortega, a 79-year-old former guerrilla in power since 2007 and who also governed in the 1980s, is facing health problems, which is why Murillo, 74, is carrying out an internal purge to guarantee the succession.
With information from Swissinfo.ch
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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