A new attack against a massive demonstration led by the mothers of those who have lost their lives as a result of the violent state repression in Nicaragua demonstrates the systematic “shoot-to-kill” policy of President Ortega’s government, said Amnesty International today after participating in the march.
The Amnesty International delegation accompanied the Mother’s Day march and witnessed the chaos caused by the detonation of firearms. The organization has been able to verify that the attacks against demonstrators were led by police and pro-government armed groups known as “Sandinista mobs” in the vicinity of the National University of Engineering and the Central American University. The possible use of snipers firing from the Dennis Martínez Stadium has also been reported.
“The simulation of the government of President Daniel Ortega has reached inconceivable levels of perversion today. In the morning, his government signed an agreement with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the creation of an Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts to investigate the serious human rights violations committed up until now, and in the afternoon a massive march led by the mothers of young people killed during the protests was violently attacked,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.
According to reliable sources of Amnesty International, several people were reported dead and injured, with the toll on the rise. The rector of the Central American University confirmed that dozens of people, including women, children and students, took shelter for several hours in the university campus, due to the threat of attacks by the Sandinista mobs.
In addition, attacks were confirmed on the facilities of the 100% Noticias television channel in Managua and Radio Darío in León, as well as a fire in a public building in the capital.
On Tuesday May 29, Amnesty International launched the report Shoot to kill: Nicaragua’s strategy to suppress protest, in which it denounces the lethal policy of state repression and demands the government of President Ortega to put an immediate end to the violence.
For more information, please contact: Jacob Kuehn, Press Officer, 613-744-7667 ext 236 jkuehn@amnesty.ca
