HR Court Requests Nicaragua Visit to See Political Prisoners
By 100% Noticias / EFE
HAVANA TIMES – The Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a resolution this Thursday in which it requests the State of Nicaragua authorization to enter the country and verify the condition of a group of detained people, which various organizations and countries label as political prisoners.
In its resolution, the Court states “the willingness to carry out an in situ visit to Nicaragua, with the prior authorization of the State, in order to verify the situation of the detained people who are beneficiaries of these measures, so that they be presented before the delegation of the Court, and their state of health be verified by independent doctors.”
The delegation will be made up of at least one judge of the Inter-American Court and the State of Nicaragua must communicate no later than September 24 if it accepts the visit.
This visit request is part of a series of requirements included in the resolution on provisional measures in favor of Lesther Lenin Aleman Alfaro, Freddy Alberto Navas Lopez, Daisy Tamara Davila Rivas, Juan Sebastian Chamorro García, Jose Adan Aguerri Chamorro, Felix Alejandro Maradiaga Blandon, and Violeta Mercedes Granera Padilla and their families.
The Court also urges Nicaragua to “proceed to the immediate release” of citizens listed above.
In addition, the Inter-American Court requires the State of Nicaragua “to immediately adopt the necessary measures to effectively protect the life, integrity and personal liberty” of these people, as well as to guarantee “their immediate contact with their family members and lawyers, immediate access to health services and medication.”
“Require the State to guarantee the access of the beneficiaries’ trusted lawyers to the entire file followed against them and to the online judicial information system,” the resolution adds.
On June 24th the Inter-American Court had already issued provisional measures in which it ordered the immediate release of Juan Sebastian Chamorro Garcia, Jose Adan Aguerri Chamorro, Felix Alejandro Maradiaga Blandon and Violeta Mercedes Granera Padilla.
“To date, three months after the decision was adopted, the State has not proceeded to release them, nor has it reported to the Court the measures it has adopted to effectively guarantee their life, integrity and liberties and that of their families,” the Court explained.
In the context of the electoral process, the Nicaraguan authorities have arrested and/or sent to trial 36 opposition leaders and independent professionals, including seven who announced their intentions to run for the presidency in the November elections, in which Ortega is seeking another reelection.
In the November elections, Ortega, a former Sandinista guerrilla who soon will turn 76 years of old and who returned to power in 2007 after coordinating a Government Junta from 1979 to 1984 and presiding over the country for the first time from 1985 to 1990, seeks his fifth term, fourth in a row, and second with his wife, Rosario Murillo as his vice president.