The relatives of 70 political prisoners in Nicaragua appealed to the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and other groups in the country for a new national dialogue that leads to the release of detainees and the “common well-being”.
The relatives asked, in a joint statement, that “the rulers and the living forces of the nation, as well as the Church, so that, through a constructive meeting, the necessary bases for the common well-being” can be forged.
Since April 2018, Nicaragua has been going through a social and political crisis, which in the first year alone has left 355 dead, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
The agency also points out that there are more than 180 political prisoners in different prisons in the country, some held at home.
In 2018 and 2019, there were attempts to establish a national dialogue to get the country out of the crisis, with the intermediation or monitoring of the Catholic Church, the Apostolic Nuncio and the Organization of American States (OAS).
Both rounds, however, failed when the opposition accused the Ortega government of failing to fulfill commitments prior to the signing of agreements.
The IACHR and the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights have already documented cases of torture and ill-treatment against political prisoners, as well as sexual assaults against family members who visit them, especially women.
Since April 2018, the IACHR, the OAS and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have released resolutions for the country’s government to definitively release political prisoners, all without success.
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