Holding Ortega Accountable with Universal Justice Methods
“Justice should be a priority on the agenda of governments that are allies of the Nicaraguan people,” affirms the executive director of the organization “Raza e Igualdad.”
HAVANA TIMES – On April 18, the sixth anniversary of Nicaragua’s social explosion, the Washington-based NGO “Raza e Igualdad” (“Race and Equality”) called urgently on “countries allied with the Nicaraguan people to apply universal justice mechanisms to investigate the individual criminal responsibilities of dictator Daniel Ortega, Vice President Rosario Murillo, and other high-ranking officials who have perpetrated crimes against humanity.”
In their declaration, Raza e Igualdad also urged other governments to charge Nicaragua before the International Court of Justice in the Hague for these “crimes against humanity.”
The news bulletin is headlined: “Six Years of Crimes Against Humanity in Nicaragua: Justice Must Not Be Delayed Any Longer!” On the sixth anniversary of Nicaragua’s massive 2018 anti-government protests, the NGO also urged international solidarity with the direct victims of repression and their families, “who deserve truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition.”
“On this date, we cannot stop thinking about the mothers of April, the families of political prisoners and the rest of the Nicaraguan people who have been clamoring for peace for six years,” stated Carlos Quesada, executive director of Raza e Igualdad, in the organization’s posted statement.
“Peace can only come with truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition for the victims of these atrocious crimes. The more time passes, the more difficult it will be to rebuild Nicaragua, our little Nicaragüita; therefore, [we say to] countries that are friends of the Nicaraguan people: Justice must not be delayed any longer, let’s act, and seek mechanisms for accountability!“ Quesada added.
Toll of the Nicaraguan crisis
According to data cited in the NGOs press statement, “the atrocities committed by the dictatorial regime of Ortega and Murillo left thousands of victims: at least 355 people were murdered, and more than 2000 protesters were injured by state or para-state agents in the context of the 2018 protests.”
The statement goes on to mention that 317 Nicaraguans have been stripped of their nationality and citizen’s rights, while another 240 were banished. Meanwhile, over 200 journalists have left Nicaragua for security reasons. Raza e Igualdad further cites data showing that 6.5% of Nicaragua’s 6.7 million inhabitants have gone into exile, “seeking asylum or refuge;” over 3,625 organizations of civil society have been forcibly closed; and 138 people are currently in prison for political reasons.
“Ortega and Murillo, with their intellectual accomplices and direct perpetrators, have managed to sow terror beyond Nicaragua’s borders with the implementation of statelessness,” wrote the NGOs program director Christina Fetterhoff.
Carlos Quesada noted: “This year, justice must be a priority on the agendas of the governments allied with the Nicaraguan people.”
Nicaragua has been engulfed in a political and social crisis since April 2018. The crisis intensified during the much-questioned presidential elections of November 7, 2021, during which Ortega, who has been in power since 2007, assured his reelection for a fifth term – four of them consecutive – by imprisoning or exiling all his serious opponents.
The text of the Race and Equality statement can be viewed here.