The relatives of 70 political prisoners in Nicaragua have appealed to the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, and other groups in the country, for a new national dialogue, leading to the release of the detainees and to the “common welfare”.
The relatives asked, in a joint declaration, that the “rulers and the living forces of the nation, as well as the Church, so that, through a constructive meeting, they the necessary foundations for the common well-being have been forged”.
Since April 2019, Nicaragua has been going through a social and political crisis, which only in the first year, left 355 dead, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
The body also points out that there are more than 180 political prisoners in different prisons in the country, some detained at home.
In 2019 and 2019, there were attempts to establish a national dialogue so that the country could leave 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.
A 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 , the IACHR, the OAS and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued resolutions for the country’s government to definitively release political prisoners, all without success.