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UN: A Year After Crackdown, Nicaragua Abuses Continue

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - A U.N. report finds human rights violations and repression of
   fundamental freedoms in Nicaragua continue a year after a violent
   crackdown on dissent killed more than 300 protesters and injured more
   than 2,000.

   Submitting the report before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva,
   U.N. Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said the number of violations
   against life and personal integrity has decreased since the end of
   February when the government and the Civic Alliance for Justice and
   Democracy resumed their dialogue.

   But at the same time she noted that the human rights crisis in
   Nicaragua remains acute. She said homicides by security forces
   continue. Acts of torture and mistreatment of detained protesters
   continue. The civic space in Nicaragua has been significantly reduced.

   "Free speech has been restricted through actions that range from the
   closing of press sources and the seizure of their equipment and
   property to the imprisonment of national journalists for months. There
   have been arbitrary arrests as well for the simple act of flying a
   Nicaraguan flag or singing the national anthem in public space," she
   said.

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