UN accuses Nicaraguan government of widespread human rights violations

Record ID: 1354144

  • Title: UN accuses Nicaraguan government of widespread human rights violations
  • Date: 29th August 2018
  • Summary: MANAGUA, NICARAGUA (FILE - MAY 30, 2018) (REUTERS) FIREFIGHTERS TREATING INJURED PERSON
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2018 12:31
  • Keywords: United Nations Managua Nicaragua protests human rights violations Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein
  • Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
  • City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0058V8Q893
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
    Nicaragua's government committed human rights violations and turned a blind eye while armed mobs rounded up protesters, some of whom were later raped with rifles and tortured in detention, the U.N. human rights office said on Wednesday (August 29).
    It documented human rights violations between April 18 and August 18, including the disproportionate use of force and extrajudicial killings by the police, disappearances, widespread arbitrary detentions and instances of torture and sexual violence in detention centers.
    "Repression and retaliation against demonstrators continue in Nicaragua as the world looks away," outgoing U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein told reporters in Geneva during his last news conference as High Commissioner of human rights.
    He urged the U.N. Human Rights Council, which meets next month, should consider setting up an international inquiry or truth commission to prevent the situation getting worse and to ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses.
    The violent crackdown on protests against President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla leader, have drawn international condemnation. The U.N. report said over 300 people had been killed and 2,000 injured.
    Zeid also warned on a possible refugee crisis as people are fleeing persecution.
    "If we don't stem this, stop this, you know, how many other countries are going to be placed under severe pressure from the outflow of refugees who are fleeing and then, there will be a knock-on effect", he said.
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