Journalists condemn attacks on freedom of expression and information in Nicaragua

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Around 500 journalists from various countries signed a letter calling for urgent measures to guarantee freedom of expression in Nicaragua.

The letter was symbolically delivered to the Nicaraguan journalists by Mónica González, winner of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize and president of the CIPER Foundation, in an online event organized by Pedro Vaca, special rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). CIPER reproduces below the press release published by Fundación Gabo.

The signatories, from 40 countries, openly expressed their “concern and indignation” at the process of stripping Nicaragua’s citizens of two basic rights: “freedom of expression and timely access to truthful and independent information.”

They also denounced the “systematic repression” by the government led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo since the start of protests in Nicaragua, in April 2018, “against dissident voices, particularly against the media that they do not have under their control, to the point of confiscating facilities where independent media operated.”

The full text of the letter can be read below:

“The Ortega-Murillo regime’s attacks place journalists, independent media and citizen freedoms in Nicaragua in lethal danger.

We, the undersigned journalists, openly express our concern and indignation at the process of stripping the citizens of Nicaragua of two basic rights: freedom of expression and timely access to accurate and independent information.

Since the start of social protests in April 2018, the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has exercised a systematic repression against dissident voices, particularly against media outlets that are not under their control, to the point of confiscating facilities where independent media outlets were operating.

During these days and with no court order, this government illegally seized the offices of the media outlets Confidencial and 100% Noticias, and installed in them offices of the Ministry of Health as a façade.

These events are the most recent attacks against journalism and are part of a strategy of systematic and open aggression since the beginning of the current crisis, in April 2018, when paramilitary groups aligned with the government launched direct attacks against journalists, documentary filmmakers and photojournalists covering demonstrations protesting government policies. The repression has worsened since then.

We report here on some of these attacks:

The raid conducted by paramilitaries, which destroyed the facilities of Radio Darío, in León, on April 20th, 2018.

The murder of journalist Ángel Gahona, in Bluefields, on April 21st, 2018.

Physical attacks, theft of equipment, threats, espionage and intimidation against reporters in news coverage, by police and paramilitaries.

The forced exile of more than 70 journalists after having received death threats in Nicaragua.

The systematic exclusion of reporters, independent media and foreign correspondents from access to public information.

The customs blockade against the newspaper La Prensa and other media for 500 days, to prevent them from accessing paper and supplies.

The armed raid, robbery and police occupation of the editorial offices of Confidencial and 100% Noticias in December 2018.

The de facto censorship imposed in the cable and open television system against 100% Noticias, the programs Esta Semana and Esta Noche and other independent media.

The criminalization of the practice of journalism, the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda (director and head of Information of 100% Noticias), tortured, between December 2018 and June 2019.

The trials and convictions for alleged libel and slander promoted by officials of the regime, against journalists Kalúa Salazar, David Quintana and William Aragón.

The Special Law on Cybercrimes (October 2020), which provides for prison sentences for journalists and citizens alleged to commit the crime of spreading “false information”.

The Law for the Regulation of Foreign Agents (October 2020), which forces any organization or individual receiving external financing to register as a presumed foreign agent and bans them from expressing themselves on internal affairs of the country, thereby violating their political rights. This has led to the suspension of the work of several organizations defending freedom of expression.

Three police raids, so far in 2021, on the private residence of Aníbal Toruño, director of Radio Darío.

The illegal seizure of the editorial offices of Confidencial and 100 % Noticias, whose properties were awarded on February 23rd and 25th, 2021 to the Ministry of Health, in contravention of Article 44 of the Political Constitution which bans the confiscation of property.

These facts confirm that the current Nicaraguan government has sought by various means to asphyxiate any form of criticism of its policies and conflicts of interest that deteriorate the quality of life of the country’s citizens, aggravated by the obscure management of the covid-19 pandemic.

The growing obscurity over the financial operations of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s regime, together with the downplaying of the pandemic, make independent journalism even more urgent, so that it can report what is really happening in the country.

On November 7th, Nicaragua will undergo a decisive electoral process with no democratic guarantees whatsoever. Without independent journalism there can be no free and fair elections and no democracy.

Therefore, on Monday, March 1st, 2021, the date on which Journalist’s Day is celebrated in Nicaragua, we, the undersigned journalists, hereby issue this open letter of solidarity with our colleagues in Nicaragua:

We call on the world’s democratic governments to urge and pressure President Daniel Ortega to immediately cease his repressive policy against the media and independent journalists.

We demand that the Nicaraguan government allow international human rights organizations, such as the IACHR’s OAS, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the rapporteurs for Freedom of Expression of the OAS and the UN, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to enter the country to investigate the human rights violations and the situation of harassment and suffocation suffered by Nicaraguan media and journalists.

We invite fellow journalists and the media of the American continent to take up the human rights crisis and the future of Nicaragua as an important topic for their news agendas.

At a time when democracy is crumbling in many countries of the continent and the world, we propose not to leave Nicaraguan journalists alone at a critical moment in their brave history of denouncing repression in their country.”

Source: CIPER