This Friday, the 53rd National Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) condemned the Nicaraguan regime, led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, by approving without objection the resolution entitled “The human rights crisis in Nicaragua”. .

This project was the second in the order of approval and Ronald Sanders, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, intervened to fully support it and express the urgency of leaving a clear message to the Nicaraguan government condemning the repression and oppression.

“It is essential that we present a strong message to the Nicaraguan government condemning the continued repression and oppression carried out by political opponents, the media, religious entities, including the Catholic Church, charities such as the Red Cross … The air of our hemisphere The rights of individuals must be freed from the scourge of repression and oppression, and our societies must act without hesitation to safeguard freedom, leaving little room for those who want to limit them,” said Ambassador Sanders.

The resolution calls for an end to all violations of human rights and respect for civil and political rights, such as religious freedoms, and the rule of law, as well as to refrain from all “forms of intimidation and harassment against journalists, the media, religious communities and non-governmental organizations, respecting their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”.

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It also calls for respect for the decisions and recommendations of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners.

freedom political prisoners

Furthermore, they demand that they stop repressing and arbitrarily detaining leaders of the Catholic Church and that they provide information on the physical and psychological health of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who, according to the information received, is being held in isolation in maximum security facilities.

On the other hand, they call for the cancellation of rules that allow citizens to be arbitrarily deprived of their nationality and which restrict public freedoms, and to refrain from using legal and legislative mechanisms against dissidents.

They ask that they allow international human rights bodies to enter and implement the recommendations issued by the IACHR and other international human rights bodies.

As for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it asks that it continue to monitor the human rights situation in Nicaragua, through the Special Monitoring Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI), which it seeks the cooperation of the Government of Nicaragua in this regard and that it provide all reasonable assistance to the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua to help it carry out its current mandate.

Despite the fact that Nicaragua will leave the OAS in only 5 months, the resolution requests that the Permanent Council continue to deal with the political and human rights situation in Nicaragua, receiving regular updates from the IACHR and from other specialized organizations, and that it considers any additional actions likely to promote the effective exercise of representative democracy]the rule of law and the protection of human rights in the country, in particular by urging the working group on Nicaragua to ensure that any dialogue with the Nicaraguan authorities is as broad as possible within the framework of respect for democracy, international law and the principle of non-intervention.

high level dialogue

Call on Member States to do everything possible to encourage the Nicaraguan authorities to engage in dialogue at the highest level.

However, the delegate from Antigua and Barbura acknowledged that the Organization of American States had reached out to the Nicaraguan government on several occasions, offering assistance to restore democracy and its fundamental principles and practices, but stated that ” unfortunately, these efforts have resulted in disdain and instead of progress, we have seen the erosion of democratic values ​​and political and human rights”.

“Mr. President, it is our duty to use our individual and collective influence to bring the Nicaraguan authorities to participate in the dialogue. In this resolution, we call on all member states to do so in the hope that the Nicaraguan government will respond positively before putting an end to the interests of the Nicaraguan people and the general well-being of Nicaragua,” Sanders said.

Finally, he acknowledged that “Nicaragua has an important country as a founding member of this organization and Nicaraguans have played a very important role in shaping the dynamic culture of our Americas. We must mention and send our message of solidarity with the people of Nicaragua showing that we stand with them United and will continue to watch over their suffering.

States celebrate Nicaragua’s condemnation

The representative of Costa Rica said that, as a sponsor of the said resolution, her country welcomed the adoption of the resolution on the situation in Nicaragua, since five years had been commemorated since the beginning of the crisis, since its genesis in April 2018. .

“During this period, the international community has witnessed serious violations of all kinds against the civilian population, against the diplomatic community, against the clergy and parishioners of the Catholic Church,” he said, while specifying that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has documented these violations and the figures reflected in its recent report are a painful reminder of the human drama that this crisis represents for many Nicaraguan families.

“At least 355 people died, including political prisoner Hugo Torres while he remained in captivity. more than 2,000 people were injured 2,090 people were deprived of their liberty more than 300 people were arbitrarily deprived of their nationality and more than 3,000 civil organizations were canceled, in addition to the above, illegal confiscations of accounts banks and illegitimate credits from private property, this includes the severe assignment made to its national office and the expulsion of Organization of American States personnel in Managua,” he said.

Francisco Mora, Representative of the United States, said that “on Nicaragua, it is gratifying to see once again that OAS Member States have spoken out strongly against the serious violations of human rights and the destruction of democracy in Nicaragua”.

He said that the President of Nicaragua and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, continue to intensify attacks on democratic values ​​and institutions and the people of Nicaragua, their fundamental freedoms.

“The actions of the Nicaraguan regime go against everything this organization stands for, democracy, human rights, security and development. They also show their contempt for the OAS charter and the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” he insisted.

He also said that the OAS must continue to pressure the Nicaraguan government to change course and return to democracy.

The representative of Canada stressed that the approval by consensus for the second consecutive year of a strong and valid resolution on the human rights crisis in Nicaragua sends a very clear message that the OAS stands with the people Nicaraguan national and that his delegation calls on the Nicaraguan government to immediately comply with its international human rights obligations and release all political prisoners unconditionally.

Finally, Guyana took the floor to express its disappointment with the Ortega regime in Nicaragua since supporting him in the 1980s, during his first pro-democracy presidency.

“Who could have imagined at the time that Ortega would become the dictator we are now fighting against, formerly as a member of the Nicaragua task force, Guyana remains committed to the ongoing dialogue process in this mechanism, in the hope that Nicaragua seriously recognizes the value of this august continental body and the supportive role it can play in restoring representative democracy and human rights obligations in that country, thank you, Mr President,” he concluded.