No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeNewsAmnesty Report Reveals Mass Detentions and Torture in Nicaragua

Amnesty Report Reveals Mass Detentions and Torture in Nicaragua

Amnesty International (AI) stated this Tuesday that no one is safe in Nicaragua from the “repressive model” imposed by Daniel Ortega’s government, which threatens human rights in an “unprecedented” way.”Repression in Nicaragua leaves no one safe,” said Ana Piquer, AI’s Americas Director, quoted in a statement.

“From indigenous leaders, journalists, human rights defenders, and anyone seen as a risk to government policies, the authorities continue to consolidate the climate of fear where dissent is punished with imprisonment, exile, or disappearance,” she added.

Since the anti-government protests of 2018, which Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, consider a U.S.-promoted coup attempt, hundreds of people “have been unjustly imprisoned” and thousands have been forced into exile, AI stated.At least 300 people died in the protests, according to the UN.

The humanitarian organization urged Ortega’s government to “immediately stop all repressive practices,” guarantee human rights, and end the “criminalization of dissent.” Recently, the NGO Colectivo Nicaragua Nunca Más reported more than 2,000 arbitrary detentions and at least 229 cases of torture of detainees since 2018.

Additionally, Amnesty categorized imprisoned Miskito indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera as a “prisoner of conscience” and demanded his release along with dozens of other detainees. The Mechanism for Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua currently registers 45 people detained for political reasons in the country.

Since February 2023, Ortega’s government has stripped about 450 politicians, businesspeople, journalists, intellectuals, human rights activists, and religious figures who are exiled or expelled from the country of their Nicaraguan nationality. Amnesty demanded “an end to the practice of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, as well as the full restoration of rights for people stripped of it,” and asked the international community not to remain “indifferent” to the situation in Nicaragua.

Ortega, a 79-year-old former guerrilla who governed Nicaragua in the 1980s and has been back in power since 2007, issued a broad constitutional reform in November that stipulates that “traitors to the homeland” lose their Nicaraguan nationality, a charge with which the vast majority of those expelled from the country were accused.

Trending Now

Major Cocaine Seizure in Costa Rica’s South Highlights Ongoing Cartel Fight

Costa Rican police pulled off a big win against drug traffickers this Sunday, seizing over a ton of cocaine hidden in a tourism minibus...

Costa Rica’s Sibö Chocolate Wins Bronze at Int’l Awards

Chocolate Sibö once again stood out at the International Chocolate Awards, the largest fine chocolate competition based in New York. The Costa Rican brand...

Fan Violence in Latin American Football Spurs Debate on Security and Culture

Images of a fan jumping from the stands to escape a beating as bottles, rocks and seats fly through the air at a game...

Guatemala Prisons Erupt in Violence With Guards and Workers Taken Hostage

Gang members rioted this Friday in two prisons in Guatemala and took several guards and civilian employees hostage, a week after uprisings in which...

Costa Rica Replaces One-Lane Bridges as Traffic and Population Grow

As the infrastructure of Costa Rica advances, with new four-lane highways and a series of bypasses around San José that avoid the narrow, congested...

FBI Recordings Reveal Costa Rica Ex-Minister Celso Gamboa’s Drug Ties

Costa Rican authorities continue to hold former security minister Celso Gamboa in custody as U.S. officials push for his extradition on drug charges. Recent...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica