The UN denounces the "crimes against humanity" of the Nicaraguan government
An “assassin” inscription covers a fresco of President Daniel Ortega in Managua, Nicaragua (illustration image).
AP - Esteban Felix
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
A UN report points to the numerous human rights violations committed by President Ortega's government in Nicaragua, which is accused of "crimes against humanity".
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A group of independent experts commissioned by the UN to investigate human rights violations in Nicaragua concluded that the regime was responsible for “crimes against humanity”.
Many countries and Nicaraguan opponents in exile have repeatedly denounced the dictatorial excesses of the regime led by Daniel Ortega, in power since 2007.
"
torture
"
Among the abuses highlighted in the UN report are “
extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, torture, arbitrary deprivation of nationality and the right to stay in one's own country
”.
“
Such a state does not need to precisely identify targets.
Basically, its objective is to govern by terror.
So it's not just political opponents openly against the regime who are in the sights, but rather anyone who might not be on their side.
It is an arbitrary process,
denounces the president of the UN group of experts, Jan Simon.
"
A charge equals a conviction
"
“
Anyone who is not loyal to the cause and the project of the presidential couple is suspect and perhaps considered a potential target to be repressed.
Sometimes it is enough simply to be close to an opponent to be arrested.
From a judicial point of view, a charge is equivalent to a conviction.
All were treated the same.
We are facing a process that is similar to what was called the Inquisition in the Middle Ages
, ”he continues.
In February, the Nicaraguan government had
released and immediately expelled to the United States 222 prisoners
who had also been stripped of their nationality and civil rights.
Daniel Ortega, a 76-year-old ex-Sandinista guerrilla, led the insurgency that brought down dictator Anastasio Somoza and replaced him as leader in 1979. Defeated in the 1990 elections, he returned to power in 2007 and took control of all government structures.
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