‘Rights crisis’: Amnesty report documents abuses in Nicaragua
1 year, 8 months ago

‘Rights crisis’: Amnesty report documents abuses in Nicaragua

Al Jazeera  

The government of President Daniel Ortega has been criticised for targeting dissidents and consolidating power. The human rights organisation Amnesty International has warned that the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo is deepening repression in the Central American state. “We’ve shown the continuum of repression to which Nicaraguan society has been subjected and the different patterns of human rights violations inflicted on people who dare to raise their voices,” Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said in a news release. Out now 👇 https://t.co/ww6NOH5ahc — Amnesty International April 18, 2023 The report said that the government has continued to “expand and reinvent” such patterns of repression through a variety of methods, including excessive force, attacks on civil society groups, and using the judiciary to target opponents. In their report on Tuesday, Amnesty said that the Ortega government has “co-opted” the judicial system, pursuing “unfair trials of people merely because they were considered critical of the government”.

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History of this topic

US officials to investigate labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua
2 weeks ago

US officials to investigate labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is opening an investigation into labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua, impacting relations with a country the U.S. has a free trade deal with amid growing concerns over President Daniel Ortega’s increasingly authoritarian rule. “Numerous reports suggest the Government of Nicaragua is engaging in repressive acts that harm Nicaragua’s own workers and people, undermine …

UN rights chief concerned about arbitrary detentions and excessive force in Venezuela's crackdown
4 months, 1 week ago

UN rights chief concerned about arbitrary detentions and excessive force in Venezuela's crackdown

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

Honduras to build 20,000-inmate ‘megaprison’ as part of gang crackdown
6 months, 1 week ago

Honduras to build 20,000-inmate ‘megaprison’ as part of gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

President Xiomara Castro says new measures including ‘terrorist’ designations for gang members are in response to public complaints about rising violence. In a late-night televised address to the nation, President Xiomara Castro said on Friday the “plan of solutions against crime” was in response to a “security emergency” and public complaints about increasing violence. Flanked by members of Honduras’s National …

US sanctions Nicaragua’s attorney general over human rights concerns
9 months ago

US sanctions Nicaragua’s attorney general over human rights concerns

Al Jazeera  

Washington says Morales Urbina ‘exploited her office to facilitate a coordinated campaign to suppress dissent’. The United States has imposed sanctions on Nicaragua’s attorney general for what it says is her role in the government’s “unjust persecution of political prisoners and civil society”. Wendy Carolina Morales Urbina, who has been the attorney general since 2019, “has exploited her office to …

Experts report Nicaraguan ‘systematic human rights violations’ to UN council
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Experts report Nicaraguan ‘systematic human rights violations’ to UN council

The Hindu  

Driven by a desire to squelch critical voices, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and his entourage have committed systematic human rights violations “tantamount to crimes against humanity,” a group of UN-mandated experts said on Thursday. In a report presented to the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, they said Mr. Ortega, his Vice President and wife Rosario Murillo, and other high-level …

UN experts accuse Nicaragua’s government of abuses ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity’
9 months, 3 weeks ago

UN experts accuse Nicaragua’s government of abuses ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity’

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — A panel of U.N.-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Nicaragua ’s government of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity,” implicating a range of high-ranking officials in the government of President Daniel Ortega. “Serious systematic human rights violations, tantamount to crimes against humanity, continue to be perpetrated by the Nicaraguan government for political reasons,” …

U.N. experts accuse Nicaragua’s government of abuses ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity’
9 months, 3 weeks ago

U.N. experts accuse Nicaragua’s government of abuses ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity’

LA Times  

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega poses for a photo during the ALBA Summit at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba, on Dec. 14, 2021. A panel of U.N.-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Nicaragua’s government of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity,” implicating a range of high-ranking officials in the government of President Daniel Ortega. …

Venezuela orders UN human rights office to close, accusing it of anti-government activity
10 months, 1 week ago

Venezuela orders UN human rights office to close, accusing it of anti-government activity

Associated Press  

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s government on Thursday ordered the local United Nations office on human rights to suspend operations and gave its staff 72 hours to leave, accusing it of assisting coup plotters and terrorist groups. Gil said the local technical advisory office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, authorized in 2019, was supposed “to improve, to optimize,” …

UN says Nicaragua’s human rights violations and persecution of dissidents are on the rise
1 year, 3 months ago

UN says Nicaragua’s human rights violations and persecution of dissidents are on the rise

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua has increased human rights violations and persecution of the opposition as it ratchets up its efforts to stifle dissent, a United Nations group of experts monitoring the country said Tuesday. The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, that the government continues increasing pressure on human rights …

UN rights panel warns Nicaragua is being ‘stripped’ of critical voices
1 year, 3 months ago

UN rights panel warns Nicaragua is being ‘stripped’ of critical voices

Al Jazeera  

The panel estimated that 27 private universities have had their legal status revoked under President Daniel Ortega. “Today, the overall human rights situation has aggravated,” Jan-Michael Simon, the panel’s chair, wrote in a statement. “Nicaragua is being stripped of its intellectual capital and critical voices, leaving the country’s prospects and development on hold.” The report comes less than a month …

Rights commission says Peru crackdown may qualify as a ‘massacre’
1 year, 7 months ago

Rights commission says Peru crackdown may qualify as a ‘massacre’

Al Jazeera  

A new report says that the killing of protesters amid widespread unrest may constitute ‘extrajudicial executions’. A human rights commission has stated that the Peruvian government committed abuses as it cracked down on widespread unrest following the arrest of former President Pedro Castillo in December. In a report released on Wednesday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said that the …

US sanctions Nicaraguan judges who removed dissident citizenship
1 year, 8 months ago

US sanctions Nicaraguan judges who removed dissident citizenship

Al Jazeera  

The sanctions come as the government of President Daniel Ortega faces ongoing allegations of silencing dissent. The United States has announced sanctions against three Nicaraguan judges for their role in stripping hundreds of activists and political dissidents of their citizenship, as the Nicaraguan government faces allegations of stifling opposition. Nicaragua’s government, led by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President …

Five years since a crackdown began, what’s next for Nicaragua?
1 year, 8 months ago

Five years since a crackdown began, what’s next for Nicaragua?

Al Jazeera  

Daniel Ortega is one of Latin America’s great political survivors. The leftist rebel leader who seized power after toppling a right-wing US-backed regime in 1979, accepted defeat in elections in 1990. Demonstrations that began five years ago marked the start of the crackdown on dissent – with more than 300 people killed and tens of thousands leaving the country. Presenter: …

El Salvador committing ‘systematic’ abuses in gang purge: Amnesty
1 year, 8 months ago

El Salvador committing ‘systematic’ abuses in gang purge: Amnesty

Al Jazeera  

Government has committed abuses such as torture, enforced disappearances in year-long gang crackdown, rights group says. Authorities in El Salvador have committed “systematic” human rights abuses since launching a nationwide state of emergency last year to tackle gang violence, including torture and enforced disappearances, Amnesty International said. The rights group said on Monday that the Salvadoran government’s “state of exception” …

Nicaragua proposes suspending Vatican ties after comments
1 year, 9 months ago

Nicaragua proposes suspending Vatican ties after comments

Associated Press  

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaragua ’s government said Sunday it has proposed suspending relations with the Vatican days after Pope Francis reportedly compared President Daniel Ortega’s administration to a communist or Nazi dictatorship amid a crackdown on the Catholic Church in the Central American country. “It is something from outside of what we are living, as if it were a communist …

UN experts accuse Nicaragua government of crimes against humanity
1 year, 9 months ago

UN experts accuse Nicaragua government of crimes against humanity

Al Jazeera  

Nicaragua’s government has committed serious and systematic violations which amount to crimes against humanity, a United Nations-appointed team of human rights experts has said, calling for international sanctions against the government. “The objective is to eliminate by different means any opposing or dissenting voices in the country,” Jan Simon, chair of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, told …

UN calls move to strip Nicaraguan dissidents’ citizenship illegal
1 year, 10 months ago

UN calls move to strip Nicaraguan dissidents’ citizenship illegal

Al Jazeera  

UN chief Guterres said that the right to nationality was ‘fundamental’ and should not be weaponised against critics. On Friday, the UN refugee agency said that a decision by a Nicaraguan court to revoke the citizenship of 94 exiled dissidents earlier this week is contrary to international law. “The recent legislative reforms in Nicaragua allowing for citizenship-stripping on arbitrary grounds …

Nicaragua strips 94 political opponents of citizenship
1 year, 10 months ago

Nicaragua strips 94 political opponents of citizenship

Al Jazeera  

Analysts, legal experts and human rights groups condemn the move, which they say violates international law. He claimed those on the list – among them rights activist Vilma Núñez, former Sandinista rebel commander Luis Carrión and journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro – were guilty of “spreading false news” and “conspiracy to undermine national integrity”. Most of those named fled Nicaragua when …

Nicaragua frees 222 political prisoners, sends them to US
1 year, 10 months ago

Nicaragua frees 222 political prisoners, sends them to US

Al Jazeera  

Nicaragua has released 222 political prisoners, including leading opposition figures, student activists and other critics of longtime President Daniel Ortega, and sent them to the United States in what Washington described as a “constructive step”. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said there was one American citizen among the freed prisoners, welcomed their release on Thursday as a step …

Rights groups dismayed at lack of criticism for Peru abuses
1 year, 11 months ago

Rights groups dismayed at lack of criticism for Peru abuses

Associated Press  

LIMA, Peru — More than 50 people have died in ongoing street protests in the weeks since Peru’s elected leader was jailed, mostly demonstrators at the hands of police officers, but only a few international voices of concern have emerged. Jennie Dador, executive secretary of Peru’s National Human Rights Coordinator, said the lack of international response makes it feel like …

Tunisian president must be held accountable by US: Advocacy group
2 years ago

Tunisian president must be held accountable by US: Advocacy group

Al Jazeera  

Tunisian United Network says high-ranking officials have committed crimes that could lead to sanctions. Tunis, Tunisia – A Tunisian advocacy group has called on United States President Joe Biden to confront Tunisian President Kais Saied during the latter’s visit to Washington for human rights abuses it says were carried out by high-ranking Tunisian officials over the past year. The US-based …

US targets Nicaragua’s gold sector in latest push against Ortega
2 years, 2 months ago

US targets Nicaragua’s gold sector in latest push against Ortega

Al Jazeera  

New sanctions are imposed in response to ‘attacks on democratic actors and members of civil society’, US says. Biden’s executive order gives the US Treasury Department “the authority to target certain persons that operate or have operated in the gold sector of the Nicaraguan economy”, the department said in a statement on Monday. “With President Biden’s new Executive Order, we …

Argentine judge launches probe into Nicaragua abuse claims
2 years, 2 months ago

Argentine judge launches probe into Nicaragua abuse claims

Associated Press  

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A judge in Argentina has launched a criminal investigation into Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario María Murillo to determine whether they are responsible for crimes against humanity. Taiano has said Argentina’s judiciary is within its rights to investigate human rights violations that took place in another country because Argentina’s Constitution recognizes the principle …

Venezuela uses crimes against humanity to repress dissent: U.N. probe
2 years, 3 months ago

Venezuela uses crimes against humanity to repress dissent: U.N. probe

The Hindu  

Venezuela's intelligence agencies are committing crimes against humanity as part of a plan orchestrated at the highest level of government to repress dissent, U.N. experts said on Tuesday. "This plan was orchestrated at the highest political level, led by President Nicolas Maduro and supported by other senior authorities," Marta Valinas, chair of the UN's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, …

UN rights chief warns of ‘unprecedented’ exodus from Nicaragua
2 years, 6 months ago

UN rights chief warns of ‘unprecedented’ exodus from Nicaragua

Al Jazeera  

Michelle Bachelet says ‘sociopolitical, economic and human rights crises’ are driving thousands out of the country. The United Nations human rights chief has warned that “sociopolitical, economic and human rights crises” in Nicaragua are forcing thousands to leave their homes, in a wave of migration that is growing in “unprecedented numbers”. At a Human Rights Council hearing on Thursday in …

US slaps visa restrictions on 93 Nicaraguan officials
2 years, 6 months ago

US slaps visa restrictions on 93 Nicaraguan officials

Al Jazeera  

The United States has imposed visa restrictions on dozens of Nicaraguan officials, accusing them of having “undermined democracy” in the aftermath of President Daniel Ortega’s successful re-election last year. “The United States remains deeply concerned about the Ortega-Murillo regime’s unjust detentions of political prisoners and ongoing abuses against members of civil society,” Blinken said in a statement. “National Assembly members …

Nicaragua government laying waste to civil society
2 years, 6 months ago

Nicaragua government laying waste to civil society

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua’s Sandinista-controlled congress has cancelled nearly 200 nongovernmental organizations this week, ranging from a local equestrian center to the 94-year-old Nicaraguan Academy of Letters, in what critics say is President Daniel Ortega’s attempt to eliminate the country’s civil society. “It doesn’t concern only political or defense of human rights associations, but rather artistic, journalistic, educational, scientific, environmental …

Nicaragua shuts down 25 groups critical of President Ortega
2 years, 8 months ago

Nicaragua shuts down 25 groups critical of President Ortega

Al Jazeera  

Move comes amid months-long crackdown by Daniel Ortega’s government on civil society groups and opposition figures. Nicaragua’s parliament, controlled by allies of President Daniel Ortega, has shut down 25 nongovernmental organisations in a move slammed by the opposition as the latest example in a months-long crackdown on civil society. Ortega’s government continues to persecute and jail opposition figures and other …

Calls grow for Nicaragua to release jailed opposition figures
2 years, 10 months ago

Calls grow for Nicaragua to release jailed opposition figures

Al Jazeera  

Pressure from US, EU and other observers mounts after death of detained opposition leader Hugo Torres on Saturday. They also decried a months-long government crackdown on dissent during which dozens of opposition figures – including seven presidential hopefuls – were detained in what rights groups said was an effort to guarantee Ortega’s re-election. “We reiterate our call for the immediate …

US slaps new sanctions on Nicaragua on Ortega’s inauguration day
2 years, 11 months ago

US slaps new sanctions on Nicaragua on Ortega’s inauguration day

Al Jazeera  

The move comes after President Daniel Ortega won a questionable consecutive fourth term in office in November. The United States on Monday imposed a new round of sanctions on Nicaraguan officials, including the defence minister, on the day President Daniel Ortega was sworn into office following highly questionable elections. Monday’s action, the latest sanctions targeting Nicaragua that the US has …

Nicaragua detains former OAS ambassador, critic of Ortega
3 years, 1 month ago

Nicaragua detains former OAS ambassador, critic of Ortega

Al Jazeera  

Edgard Parrales was picked up by unidentified men near his home in Managua, his wife and a rights observer say. Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States – who has been critical of President Daniel Ortega – has been detained in Managua, according to his wife and a human rights observer. Edgard Parrales was picked up by identified …

The ‘deep human rights crisis’ hanging over Nicaragua’s elections
3 years, 1 month ago

The ‘deep human rights crisis’ hanging over Nicaragua’s elections

Al Jazeera  

President Daniel Ortega is set to win a fourth straight term, but rights groups say November 7 vote is not free or fair. “These elections are taking place in the context of a deep human rights crisis,” Astrid Valencia, Central America researcher at Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera. “The government has charged many with serious crimes without providing substantiating evidence, …

US Congress targets Nicaragua ahead of controversial polls
3 years, 1 month ago

US Congress targets Nicaragua ahead of controversial polls

Al Jazeera  

The United States Congress has approved legislation to sharply increase diplomatic pressure on the government of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, the latest move by a foreign government towards squeezing Managua ahead of controversial elections this weekend. “We are witnessing the worst authoritarian assault on democracy in Latin America in decades,” Senator Bob Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign …

Rights Group: Egypt’s security tactics 'destroy' lives of activists
3 years, 3 months ago

Rights Group: Egypt’s security tactics 'destroy' lives of activists

The Hindu  

A global human rights group on Thursday accused Egypt’s main domestic security agency of harassing and intimidating rights advocates and activists to silence them. The rights group said the National Security Agency was “increasingly using a well-honed pattern of unlawful summons, coercive questioning” of activists in practices amounting to “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Egypt’s government has in …

Nicaraguan police detain opposition VP hopeful, party says
3 years, 4 months ago

Nicaraguan police detain opposition VP hopeful, party says

Al Jazeera  

Berenice Quezada is under house arrest, her Citizens Alliance for Liberty party says, as President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown continues. Police in Nicaragua have detained a vice-presidential hopeful seeking to contest the country’s November vote, her party said on Wednesday, as a crackdown by President Daniel Ortega’s government on opposition leaders and presidential challengers continues. “Quezada … is under house arrest …

Report reveals illegal detention and torture in Colombia protests
3 years, 4 months ago

Report reveals illegal detention and torture in Colombia protests

Al Jazeera  

‘These events are extremely serious and must be investigated diligently, independently and impartially,’ Amnesty International says. Through an “exhaustive digital verification” of images and videos, Amnesty also confirmed that National Police officials permitted acts of violence and urban paramilitarism by armed civilians against demonstrators and human rights activists. “n a country battered by decades of paramilitary violence, these events are …

US imposes visa curbs on Nicaraguan officials amid crackdown
3 years, 5 months ago

US imposes visa curbs on Nicaraguan officials amid crackdown

Al Jazeera  

US imposes restrictions on 100 Nicaraguan officials it says are involved in government crackdown on political opponents and rights abuses. The United States has imposed visa restrictions on 100 Nicaraguan officials it accuses of being involved in President Daniel Ortega’s escalating crackdown on political opponents ahead of November elections and other rights abuses. “The gravity and intensification of the Ortega …

Is political freedom in Nicaragua under threat?
3 years, 5 months ago

Is political freedom in Nicaragua under threat?

Al Jazeera  

On Monday, July 12 at 19:30 GMT: The arrest by police of several politicians, student activists, and farming leaders in Nicaragua has human rights groups concerned that the government led by President Daniel Ortega is trying to stifle opposition in the run-up to a general election. Some former allies of Ortega who broke with him during the 1990s have also …

Ortega allies threaten, as opponents are arrested, flee Nicaragua
3 years, 6 months ago

Ortega allies threaten, as opponents are arrested, flee Nicaragua

Al Jazeera  

For the second time in two years, one of Nicaragua’s most influential journalists, Carlos Fernando Chamorro – a former ally of President Daniel Ortega – has gone into exile. Vice President Rosario Murillo calls it “late justice”, accusing the imprisoned opponents of conspiring with foreign powers to undermine the interests of the nation. The crackdown has alarmed the international community …

Calls for more pressure on Nicaragua as former first lady put under house arrest
3 years, 6 months ago

Calls for more pressure on Nicaragua as former first lady put under house arrest

LA Times  

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega speaks next to Vice President Rosario Murillo, the former first lady, at the inauguration ceremony of a highway overpass in Managua, Nicaragua, in 2019. An international human rights organization is calling for increased pressure on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega as arrests of opposition figures — including the nation’s former first lady — continue ahead of Nov. …

Nicaraguan banker arrested in widening crackdown
3 years, 6 months ago

Nicaraguan banker arrested in widening crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Observers accuse President Daniel Ortega of targeting opposition leaders and other figures in advance of November elections. Police in Nicaragua have arrested a leading banker as a crackdown on opposition political leaders and would-be presidential candidates seeking to challenge President Daniel Ortega continues before a planned election later this year. Luis Rivas Anduray, executive president of the private Banco de …

Nicaragua: Crackdown on Ortega’s potential challengers continues
3 years, 6 months ago

Nicaragua: Crackdown on Ortega’s potential challengers continues

Al Jazeera  

US imposes sanctions on Nicaraguan officials after four potential challengers to President Daniel Ortega arrested. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega faces mounting international criticism after four potential presidential contenders were detained during the past week, prompting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday to call for their release. Chamorro Garcia, the cousin of another detained presidential hopeful Cristiana Chamorro – seen …

Nicaragua police detain another opposition presidential hopeful
3 years, 6 months ago

Nicaragua police detain another opposition presidential hopeful

Al Jazeera  

Arturo Cruz’s detention comes three days after opposition presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro was placed under house arrest. Police in Nicaragua has taken opposition politician Arturo Cruz into custody, detaining a second presidential hopeful in less than a week and escalating the battle ahead of November elections in which President Daniel Ortega seeks to maintain his grip on power. Cruz’s detention …

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