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| (Bron foto: Twitter/@nicadispatch) |
Bij nieuw protest tegen de regering van president Daniel Ortega zijn in Nicaragua zaterdag 2 juni 2018 zes mensen om het leven gekomen. Onder de slachtoffers is een 15-jarige jongen. Woensdag kwamen ook al eens 16 mensen om tijdens een uit de hand gelopen mars. Na het wekenlange protest escaleert de situatie verder in Nicaragua.
Volgens de non-gouvernementele organisatie Nicaraguaanse Organisatie voor de Verdediging van de Mensenrechten vielen zaterdag vijf slachtoffers in Masaya, een stad nabij de hoofdstad Managua. Zij kwamen om bij gevechten tussen demonstranten en de oproerpolitie. Er zijn ook meldingen van nachtelijke plunderingen en geweld op vele plaatsen.
The Atlantic has a harrowing photo essay of scenes from #Nicaragua as the crisis continues, with more than 100 dead after police massacred protestors Wednesday (image below from @oswaldorivasnic for @Reuters) https://t.co/lEqAjekb1f pic.twitter.com/QjSPvcJWbM— Sarah Kinosian (@skinosian) June 1, 2018
Onder de doden is een Amerikaanse burger die doodgeschoten werd gevonden in de hoofdstad zaterdag. Het lichaam van Sixto Henry Vera lag in een straat naast twee verbrande voertuigen met een kogelwond in het hoofd, aldus het staatsinstituut voor forensische geneeskunde.
Medewerkers van de bar in Managua, in handen van Vera, die op voorwaarde van anonimiteit sprak uit angst voor represailles, zeiden dat hij laat vrijdag was weggegaan om een vriend te helpen die werd aangevallen. De Amerikaanse ambassadrice Laura Dogu bood op zaterdag condoleances aan via Twitter aan 'het gezin van een overleden Amerikaanse burger', en zegt dat de dood van een Amerikaanse burger 'van grote zorg' is voor de ambassade.
The #US Government expresses its condolences to the family of the U.S. citizen killed last night and to all the families who have recently visited the Forensic Medicine Institute. The death of a U.S. citizen is of great concern to our Embassy.— Laura Dogu (@USAmbNicaragua) June 2, 2018
Afgelopen woensdag werd een mars georganiseerd voor de slachtoffers die de afgelopen maanden zijn gevallen bij protesten tegen president Ortega. Maar, de optocht is uitgemond in een bloederige confrontatie tussen demonstranten en ordetroepen. Volgens de Nicaraguaanse Organisatie voor de Verdediging van de Mensenrechten zijn 16 mensen omgekomen en zeker 88 anderen gewond geraakt.
Amnesty International beschuldigt de politie en regeringsgezinde groeperingen ervan het geweld te hebben uitgelokt. Nog volgens de organisatie heeft Nicaragua een 'shoot to kill'-beleid ingesteld om de demonstranten aan te pakken.
Amnesty International heeft dinsdag een rapport naar buiten gebracht (zie onderaan) waarin de organisatie wijst op schending van de mensenrechten door de autoriteiten en het gebruik van extreem geweld tijdens protesten.
Sinds de start van het protest anderhalve maand geleden, kwamen al meer dan honderd burgers om volgens verschillende ngo’s - de politie spreekt van 39.
De demonstranten eisen het vertrek van de 72-jarige president DanielOrtega. De voormalige guerrillero van de Sandinisten is sinds 2007 aan de macht. Hij ontwaart een samenzwering van de oppositie. Het protest startte destijds tegen een inmiddels ingetrokken pensioenhervorming, maar al snel werd Ortega het doelwit. De tegenstanders verwijten hem een autoritaire regeerstijl. De VN riepen Ortega al op een VN-vertegenwoordiger toe te laten.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/americas/nicaragua/report-nicaragua/
Nicaragua 2017/2018
Gender-based killings became increasingly brutal. Attacks against
human rights defenders persisted. A total ban on abortion remained in
place. Impunity persisted for perpetrators of violence against
Indigenous Peoples. The authorities continued to deny a genuine and
effective consultation process for communities likely to be affected by
the construction of the Grand Interoceanic Canal.
In June 2017, the National Assembly approved an amendment to the Comprehensive Law on Violence against Women; the amendment reduced the scope of the definition of femicide to the private sphere, limiting the crime to relations between spouses and partners. Critics said the new definition denied the reality of femicides, which were also committed in public places.
Abortion remained banned in all circumstances. Nicaragua continued to have one of the highest teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality rates in the Americas region, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
In March, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in Acosta et al. v. Nicaragua; it found the state responsible for having violated the rights to access to justice, truth and physical integrity of human rights defender María Luisa Acosta, following the murder of her husband Francisco García Valle.1 The authorities had yet to take steps to comply with the judgment, in particular to put an end to the impunity in the case and ensure the rights to justice and truth of María Luisa Acosta.
In August the IACHR granted precautionary measures to Francisca Ramírez and her family after they were victims of death threats, harassment and attacks in retaliation for her activism in opposition to the construction of the Grand Interoceanic Canal.
According to the Centre for Legal Assistance for Indigenous Peoples, the right to free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous and Afro-descendant Rama Kriol people relating to the project had not been guaranteed, despite several appeals lodged with the courts. Civil society organizations noted that the scale of the project, which would include an oil pipeline and two ports, among other infrastructure, would affect hundreds of thousands of people and would put them at risk of eviction.
Human rights organizations and peasant farmer communities continued to call for the repeal of Law 840, the law regulating the Canal, due to its insufficient safeguards to protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Their demands continued to be rejected and the authorities had yet to open a meaningful dialogue with the communities likely to be affected by the construction of the Canal.
There were also reports of unnecessary and excessive use of force by the police against people peacefully protesting against the construction of the Canal, as well as reports of arbitrary detention of protesters. Human rights defenders were also reported to have been harassed and intimidated for their opposition to the project.
Background
In January, Daniel Ortega assumed office as President for a third consecutive term. Rosario Murillo, his wife, assumed office as Vice-President for the first time.Women’s rights
Between January and December, there were 55 gender-based killings of women, according to the NGO Catholics for the Right to Decide. The NGO found that the killings were more brutal than in previous years and tended to be committed by perpetrators acting in groups.In June 2017, the National Assembly approved an amendment to the Comprehensive Law on Violence against Women; the amendment reduced the scope of the definition of femicide to the private sphere, limiting the crime to relations between spouses and partners. Critics said the new definition denied the reality of femicides, which were also committed in public places.
Abortion remained banned in all circumstances. Nicaragua continued to have one of the highest teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality rates in the Americas region, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
Indigenous Peoples’ rights
Impunity persisted for crimes such as killings, rapes, kidnappings, enforced disappearances, death threats and forced displacement of Indigenous Peoples in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, even though both the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights had ordered Nicaragua in 2015 to adopt all necessary measures to investigate those crimes.Human rights defenders
Attacks against women human rights defenders continued, as reported at a public hearing before the IACHR in September. Women’s civil society organizations reported receiving death threats as well as being arbitrarily detained and attacked with the complicity or acquiescence of state officials.In March, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in Acosta et al. v. Nicaragua; it found the state responsible for having violated the rights to access to justice, truth and physical integrity of human rights defender María Luisa Acosta, following the murder of her husband Francisco García Valle.1 The authorities had yet to take steps to comply with the judgment, in particular to put an end to the impunity in the case and ensure the rights to justice and truth of María Luisa Acosta.
In August the IACHR granted precautionary measures to Francisca Ramírez and her family after they were victims of death threats, harassment and attacks in retaliation for her activism in opposition to the construction of the Grand Interoceanic Canal.
Grand Interoceanic Canal
There continued to be no genuine and effective consultation process for those who would be affected by the construction of the Grand Interoceanic Canal, in violation of international human rights principles.2According to the Centre for Legal Assistance for Indigenous Peoples, the right to free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous and Afro-descendant Rama Kriol people relating to the project had not been guaranteed, despite several appeals lodged with the courts. Civil society organizations noted that the scale of the project, which would include an oil pipeline and two ports, among other infrastructure, would affect hundreds of thousands of people and would put them at risk of eviction.
Human rights organizations and peasant farmer communities continued to call for the repeal of Law 840, the law regulating the Canal, due to its insufficient safeguards to protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Their demands continued to be rejected and the authorities had yet to open a meaningful dialogue with the communities likely to be affected by the construction of the Canal.
Freedoms of expression, association and assembly
In November, municipal elections took place in a context of violence, with at least five people reported to have been killed and 30 wounded in six municipalities.There were also reports of unnecessary and excessive use of force by the police against people peacefully protesting against the construction of the Canal, as well as reports of arbitrary detention of protesters. Human rights defenders were also reported to have been harassed and intimidated for their opposition to the project.
- Nicaragua: The state must uphold, without delay, the judgment issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (AMR 43/6173/2017)
- Danger: Rights for sale − the Interoceanic Grand Canal project in Nicaragua and the erosion of human rights (AMR 43/6515/2017)
(Suriname Mirror/CNN/Belga/The Washington Post-AP/Twitter/YouTube)
