The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed concern on Wednesday about the “persistent repression” in Nicaraguacharacterized, he denounced, by “religious persecution”, the continuation of “arbitrary” detentions and the “serious” conditions in which those in prison remain.
In light of this situation, the IACHR urged the State of Nicaragua “to cease the repression and to immediately release the persons detained in this context.”
In its statement, the IACHR stated that between August 1 and 10, through the Special Monitoring Mechanism for Nicaragua (Meseni)received information about the deployment of operations and raids carried out by the National Police in different rectories and properties of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church.
As a result of these operations, 12 priests and at least two collaborators of the Catholic Church were arrested, most of them linked to the Dioceses of Matagalpa or Estelí, both in northern Nicaragua, and led from exile by the released and denationalized bishop. Rolando Alvarez.
Hundreds of religious expelled
The organization said that on August 8, seven of these priests were expelled from Nicaragua and taken to the Vatican after being detained for several days at the Our Lady of Fatima Seminary in Managua.
He recalled that in its report ‘Closure of civic space in Nicaragua’, published in 2023, the IACHR found that religious persecution intensified with the arbitrary detention and expulsion of religious persons without guarantees of due process; the prohibition of religious acts and the celebration of masses; as well as the forced closure of radio stations, study centers and universities linked to Catholic congregations.
«Since October 2023, more than 200 religious people have been banished, expelled or denied entry into the country»he warned.
In total, since 2018, 46 priests and bishops have been released from prison and expelled to the Vatican State or the United States, he added.
According to the IACHR, other lay people linked to the Catholic Church are currently in prison, including collaborators of Cáritas Estelí.
In his report on ‘Freedom of Religion and Belief’The IACHR warned that such actions are part of a systematic context of reprisals against the Catholic Church, due to its role as mediator in the 2018 national dialogue and its role in denouncing human rights violations in the country.
Persecution of non-Catholic religious
Likewise, this autonomous body of the OAS observed that repression and persecution has extended to Protestant and evangelical religions.
In 2024, according to Meseni records, the State has cancelled the legal status of more than 60 evangelical churches or associations.
In addition, last April, the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of ten people from the evangelical church ministry Puerta de la Montaña, who are deprived of their liberty under severe conditions of detention.
That organization also advocated for the release of at least 141 opponents or critics of the Government of Daniel Ortega who are “arbitrarily deprived of their liberty, most of them in unsanitary conditions, with reports of mistreatment, lack of access to drinking water, inadequate food and lack of medical care.”
Nicaragua has been experiencing a political and social crisis since April 2018, which was exacerbated after the controversial general elections of November 7, 2021, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth and fourth consecutive term, with his main contenders in prison and then expelled from the country, depriving them of their nationality and political rights after accusing them of being “coup plotters” and “treason.” EFE (I)
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