Buenos Aires, Sept. 5, (dpa/GNA) – Nicaragua’s authoritarian government has released 135 political prisoners – including missionaries, Catholic laypeople, students and charity workers – following mediation by the United States, the White House said on Thursday.
“No one should be put in jail for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights of free expression, association, and practising their religion,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.
The 135 Nicaraguan citizens will initially be sent to Guatemala, he said, adding that once there, they will be apply to apply “for lawful ways to rebuild their lives in the United States or other countries.”
“The United States again calls on the government of Nicaragua to immediately cease the arbitrary arrest and detention of its citizens for merely exercising their fundamental freedoms.”
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has violently cracked down on political opponents, with the repression also extending to university students, members of the Catholic Church and journalists.
In February, UN-backed human rights experts accused the government of “systematic human rights violations” that were “tantamount to crimes against humanity.”
More than 350 people died in mass anti-government protests six years ago. The government has also banned more than 5,000 non-governmental organizations and confiscated their assets.
Hundreds of government critics, including the renowned writer and intellectual Sergio Ramírez, have fled the country to live abroad.