RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) on Tuesday (6) made an “urgent” appeal to international organizations to “restore freedoms in Nicaragua,” which, according to the Miami-based organization, is a “country with no law or justice.”
Due to health restrictions and limitations to enter Nicaragua, a IAPA delegation held an online meeting with journalists, media executives, opposition leaders and other members of civil society, according to a press release.
The so-called IAPA “mission” compiled “raw testimony” about “the escalation of repression intensified in recent weeks by the regime of Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo.”
The participants, which also included academics, entrepreneurs and representatives of Nicaragua’s Catholic Church addressed “the actions of para-police and paramilitary groups, often hooded, who storm into homes already raided,” according to the preliminary report published today.
“People are arrested without being told of the causes, the police issue communiqués stating that they broke the law, which violates the presumption of innocence, and only afterwards a judge is advised of the case and purportedly supports the operation,” said one of the participants, according to IAPA.
“Several participants reiterated a phrase that forcefully summarizes the drama of the moment: Nicaragua is a country with no law or justice,” said Carlos Jornet, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information and editor of the Argentinean media La Voz del Interior, who led the talks.
The regional organization, headquartered in Miami (USA), recalled that last May 20 there were raids in the offices of Confidencial magazine and the facilities where TV programs “Esta Semana” and “Esta Noche,” directed by Carlos Fernando Chamorro.
Moreover, journalists reporting on the operation were repressed or detained and equipment was confiscated, he added. Since then, 21 people have been imprisoned and held incommunicado or placed under house arrest, among them 5 presidential hopefuls.
In addition, according to IAPA, immigration restrictions were imposed on journalists, entrepreneurs and social leaders with no court order, and more than 30 reporters and editors were summoned by the Attorney General’s Office and asked how they obtain information and how they disclose it.
IAPA’s president Jorge Canahuati stated that the general elections of next November 7, as established in the schedule, will only be free and transparent if the full exercise of freedom of expression, press and assembly is regained, as well as the guarantees of due legal process.
The entity urged international organizations dedicated to the defense of human rights and freedom of expression and press freedom to join forces to demand the immediate end of repression, freedom for journalists and political detainees.
It will also call on the international press to continue reporting on the critical situation in Nicaragua so it may remain visible, IAPA’s press release stated.
IAPA will deliver the full report to its Executive Committee on July 16 and also plans to forward a report to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Source: Infobae