The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed his concern about the constitutional reform ordered by the regime of Daniel Ortega y Rosario Murillo, and warned that “it consolidates an authoritarian regime” in Nicaragua.
On November 20, the duo ordered modify more than 100 items of the National Constitution, in an attempt to continue increasing their power and control over all institutions in the country, eliminating the principle of separation of powers y subjecting the Legislative and Judicial bodies, among others, to strict surveillance.
Thus, although the document provides an account of a model of “direct democracy” with a “co-president” and one “co-president” with mandates of six yearsthe truth is that the IACHR experts indicated that the new proposal “consolidates an authoritarian regime in the country and constitutes another serious setback for Human Rights and democratic principles”, which have been violated for years.
At the same time, the new guidelines They reinforce the control of the Ortega-Murillo binomial over the Armed Forces and the Policetwo key arms when executing its policies and stifle dissenting voices that rise as a sign of complaint or discontent. Inclusive, makes the Volunteer Police officiala body of citizen volunteers singled out for their involvement in persecution and violence during the 2018 protests.
The initiative “ensures a repressive apparatus that threatens fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, protest and association, consolidates an environment of militarization and social control and, in particular, facilitates the use of the Army “under ambiguous terms such as the ‘stability of the Republic’ to repress the opposition,” the IACHR warned in this regard.
Meanwhile, the organization identified the reduction and alteration of functions of the Supreme Courtthe power of the regime to arbitrarily strip civilians of their nationality and the reduction of barriers to confiscate your assets as other alarming points of the reform, which account for an increasing lack of independence of all institutions in the country and a constant contravention of the fundamental principles of the rule of law, representative democracy and the separation of powers, established in the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
“The reform formalizes the absolute concentration of power in the Executive. Representative democracy is the basis of the rule of law and constitutes an essential element for the political, social and economic development of the nations of the region,” the Commission noted in its letter.
Since the 2018 protests, when the political and social crisis in Nicaragua worsened, the IACHR has repeatedly expressed its concern about the situation in the country and the advance of Sandinista authoritarianism. His observations were reflected in the report “Concentration of power and weakening of the rule of law”, in which, precisely, he identified the breakdown of democratic principles and the subordination of all public institutions at this time.
Faced with this situation, which is increasingly far from improving, the organization made a urgent call to the international communityto intensify its efforts to protect the rights of the Nicaraguan people and work for the return of democratic order, through concrete actions.
“The IACHR reaffirms its commitment to promoting and protecting human rights and will continue to closely monitor the situation in the country, while maintaining its solidarity with every Nicaraguan person inside and outside the national territory,” the letter concludes.
(With information from EFE)
