Human Rights Organizations foresee worsening crisis in Nicaragua and greater exodus

International humanitarian organizations predicted a greater exodus of Nicaraguans and a worsening of the crisis that they are experiencing Nicaragua since April 2018 after the fraudulent re-election of Daniel Ortega, and that are considered illegitimate by the international democratic community.

In a virtual event held within the framework of the 51st General Assembly of the OAS, entitled “Nicaragua: between impunity and the escalation of repression”, the representatives of the organizations anticipated that the re-election of Ortega, by not having full international recognition, will increase repression and the violation of human rights in the country, as well such as social control or surveillance over Nicaraguans.

“What is coming? The Nicaraguan government’s isolation has clearly deepened and we are watching with concern the human rights situation in a phase of greater repression,” said the president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Antonia Urrejola.

He added that “a greater exodus of Nicaraguans” will come, mainly to the United States and neighboring Costa Rica, which has already welcomed tens of thousands of Nicaraguans since 2018.

Worried about situation

For Astrid Valencia, researcher for Central America at Amnesty International, in Nicaragua it is believed that everything has already been seen, but something worse always comes up.

He observed that the international community has witnessed how President Ortega has gradually dismantled the rule of law in Nicaragua and, despite the signals he had been giving, he has reached where he is and concentrated all power in his country.

“We are deeply concerned about the deterioration of the situation, not only of human rights defenders, but of Nicaragua in general,” said Mariana Vargas, specialist of the Office of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Defenders.

The special rapporteur on the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Association, Clément Voulé, pointed out that they had hopes that the crisis would be overcome with the elections, but this was not the case due to the closure of democratic spaces and the violation of human rights, which he described as unacceptable .

They propose inclusive dialogue

Regarding the possible solutions to the crisis that Nicaragua is experiencing, the president of the IACHR said that they must “continue to press for elections to be held again that comply with the minimum guarantees established by the Democratic Charter of the OAS.”

These new elections, he pointed out, should be characterized by the “release of political prisoners, the reestablishment of the legal personality of the three opposition parties, the restitution of the 45 civil society NGOs that have been canceled, and guarantee freedom of the press. ”, As well as for the safe return of the thousands of Nicaraguans who have gone into exile.

“That is the road map for Nicaragua with basic conditions,” he indicated.

In this sense, he called on the international community and the member states of the OAS to continue promoting actions that allow finding a way out of the crisis, among them “the need for an inclusive dialogue, under conditions, which are those that have just point”.

“The experience of our region and the Nicaraguan one is that the only possibility to overcome this crisis is through a broad democratic dialogue. It is the only real mechanism, ”said Urrejola.

Meanwhile, he commented that the international community must coordinate with the countries that are welcoming Nicaraguan migrants “and support this exodus.”

A roadmap

Meanwhile, Valencia, from Amnesty International, said that “a road map must be collective and articulated and that it should accompany defenders and journalists, who are on the front line” in Nicaragua.

He assured that they have knocked on all the doors available to help find a way out of the Nicaraguan crisis, including the OAS, and that the UN Human Rights Council has asked the establishment of an international group of independent experts to investigate and contribute to the clarification of human rights violations.

Nicaragua has been experiencing a crisis since the popular revolt that broke out in 2018 due to controversial social security reforms and that later became a demand for Ortega to resign, because he responded with force.

The protests, classified by the Ortega regime as an attempted coup, left at least 328 dead, according to the IACHR, although local organizations raise the figure to 684 and the regime recognizes 200.