Gioconda Belli: Being a journalist in Nicaragua includes abuses 1:27
(CNN Spanish) ––
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights pointed out that the State of Nicaragua's ignorance of its responsibility in the multiple human rights violations committed since the beginning of the anti-government protests in 2018 “has perpetuated impunity and has encouraged the repetition of such violations.
Daniel Ortega reappears in Nicaragua but does not give a date on the arrival of vaccines against covid-19
That conclusion belongs to a report that will be presented at the UN Human Rights Council this Thursday.
The report covers from August 1 to December 31, 2020.
Figures from the UN in Nicaragua on human rights
The High Commissioner points out in a 16-page report that in the three years that have passed since the outbreak of the socio-political and rights crisis, that body, as well as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, documented multiple ways of repression and violence that left more than 300 dead and 2,000 injured in the context of the protests, and at least 1,614 people arbitrarily deprived of their liberty.
In those three years, more than 100,000 Nicaraguans have applied for asylum in third countries, the report says.
Among them, about 25,000 during the five months covered by the report, as indicated.
Amnesty International denounces "strategy of silencing" of the opposition in Nicaragua
The High Commissioner points out that in response to his requests for information, the government of Daniel Ortega responded in January 2020 that “there have been no attacks or acts of intimidation against human rights defenders, community leaders, journalists and workers from the media, or against anyone who criticizes the government, and that their work is protected.
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Despite the position expressed by the government, the agency affirms that at the end of 2019 and throughout 2020 it documented 83 cases of persecution, harassment and threats against these civil society actors.
In particular students, peasants and human rights defenders, including members of victims' and women's organizations.
Opposition protesters arrested, another human rights issue in Nicaragua that worries
Those actions, says the report, "included at least four women and three men who have been subjected to retaliation or intimidation due to their cooperation with the United Nations in the field of human rights."
According to the report, as of December 7, 2020, at least 110 opposition protesters were arbitrarily detained.
In addition, 13 of them had been in prison since 2018. Some of the detainees were allegedly subjected to torture or ill-treatment, says the High Commissioner.
The humanitarian situation in the country has worsened, the document says.
As he explains, this as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and the two hurricanes that hit the region in November 2020.
Concern for passed laws
The report also expresses concern about the approval of laws such as the Regulation of Foreign Agents, Cybercrime, the Defense of Independence, Sovereignty and self-determination.
As well as the establishment of life imprisonment for so-called hate crimes and detention of up to 90 days for investigation.
Legislation that, according to the UN office, negatively affects freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, association and political participation.
What happens just an election year and represents a risk of selective application to repress dissident voices.
“The government must urgently adopt effective electoral reforms and establish a genuine and inclusive dialogue with all sectors of society, to pave the way for credible, transparent and peaceful elections on November 7, regain public trust and ensure that no one be left behind, "states the document.
The Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua pronounces
Along the same lines, in its pastoral message for the beginning of Lent, the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference expressed on February 17: «This year, as pastors, we unite ourselves to the aspiration of Nicaraguans regarding the necessary electoral reforms that guarantee a free and transparent election process.
We hope that this year any type of confrontation and disqualification and actions that go against this civic and democratic exercise, that every Nicaraguan has the right to exercise, be overcome.
The official Nicaraguan delegation to the UN Human Rights Council has rejected the reports from the Office of the High Commissioner.
According to what it argues, they are based on reports from civil organizations that participated in what the government considers an "attempted coup."
CNN sought a reaction from the Nicaraguan government through the Council of Communication and Citizenship, coordinated by the vice president and first lady, Rosario Murillo.
However, they still do not respond to our request.
President Daniel Ortega reappeared on February 22 on the television network, but ignored the issue of electoral reforms.
On previous occasions, Ortega has warned that those who ask for sanctions against his government do not deserve to be Nicaraguans and have lost their right to run for public office.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights UN Human Rights Violations