The Working Group on Nicaragua of the Permanent Council of the OAS (Organization of American States) formed by representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the United States, sent out the following press release:

“The OAS’ Working Group on Nicaragua reiterates its strong condemnation of the acts of violence, repression, human rights violations and abuses against the people of Nicaragua, as well as the selective persecution, arbitrary arrests and practices of criminalization of social protest, of demonstrators, victims, defenders of human rights, as documented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH).

In fulfillment of the mandate contained in resolution CP/res1109 (2175/18) we urge the Government of Nicaragua to take the necessary measures to immediately end acts of violence and to proceed to investigate and identify those responsible, through the corresponding legal procedures.

The Working Group also expressed “its profound concern for the obstacles faced by the Special Follow up Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI), the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) and other international mechanisms in the implementation of their respective mandates. and therefore, urges the Government of Nicaragua to respect the agreements reached with the mechanisms mentioned above, to facilitate the gathering of official information from government institutions necessary to do their work and to facilitate access to the detention centers in order to monitor the situation of detainees in the context of the recent demonstrations.

In addition, it also expresses its concern for the significant increase in the number of Nicaraguans forced to move to other countries in the region as a result of the serious violations of human rights and the activation of practices of persecution and criminalization by the Nicaraguan State and other non-state actors. In this regard, it supports the IACHR’s call to the States of the region to respond to this situation with political will and under the principle of shared responsibility.

Finally, the OAS’ Working Group supports a constructive dialogue with the Government of Nicaragua in order to contribute to the search for a peaceful and sustainable solution to the situation in this country.