Nica News Roundup (March 28) – Letters, Communiques, Press Appearances, and Pitazo.

March 28, 2019

Nicaragua

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In this Edition

Rafael Solis’ Letter Outlines Proposals for Negotiation Agreements

Rafael Solis, the former Nicaraguan Supreme Court Magistrate, penned a letter outlining proposals to end the crisis. This is the third letter Mr. Solis has made public, since he released his resignation to the press in January.

Mr. Solis addresses three key issues, the release of political prisoners, the strengthening of constitutional rights, freedoms, and guarantees, and the reform of the electoral system.

 

On the first topic, Mr. Solis believes that the 90-day period that the government committed itself to is excessive and “should be reduced to 30 days.”

According to Mr. Solis, all trials against political prisoners should be voided, as they are illegal to begin with, because prisoners have been denied a number of rights

  1. The right to due process and effective judicial custody.
  2. Unlawful detentions, performed without a warrant, either by police or paramilitaries.
  3. The right to a legal defense, beginning at the moment of detention.
  4. The right to a presumption of innocence.
  5. The right to a speedy trial, within the time frame established by law, beginning at the moment of detention.
  6. The right to be tried by the judge that has jurisdiction on the matter.
  7. The right to present evidence in their own defense.
  8. The right to a public trial.
  9. The right to enjoy fundamental human rights while in custody, including visitation by lawyers and family members, as well as the right to medical attention, etc.
  10. The right to be safe from torture while in custody.

Given the extent of these violations, Solis argues that any judge could declare the proceedings null and void and release the prisoners, without further ado. However, “pardons would not be acceptable, as a pardon would imply that these prisoners have committed crimes, which would lead to impunity.”

Solis also discussed constitutional rights, arguing that “the right to peaceful assembly and mobilization, to freedom of the press, and to form any kind of organization are non-renounceable.” Nevertheless, Mr. Solis considers that the established constitutional guarantees are not enough. The government, therefore, “must issue an executive order or a presidential decree, or even reform the Police Law to mandate the National Police to issue any permit for mobilizations without question.” As for freedom of the press and the right to free association, Solis believes that similar decrees should be used to reestablish them.

In regards to elections, Solis argues that Nicaragua needs a reform of electoral law, the election of new magistrates for the Supreme Electoral Council, and an early election, as early as “February or March of 2020.”

“If the final negotiation accord can be signed by mid May, there would be enough time to carry out the legal and logistical preparations [for an early election], including the elaboration of a new voter registry, issuance of voting IDs to all Nicaraguan citizens, […] and the possible vote of Nicaraguans who live abroad,” among other tasks that would need to be completed.

The Ortega-Murillo government strongly objects to early elections. Yesterday, Assemblyman Wilfredo Navarro characterized an early election as unconstitutional. “Early elections are not on the agenda”, said Navarro.

Foreign Minister Denis Moncada reiterated the official government line, during an interview with Michelle Polanco, of Accion 10.

“We definitively will not accept [an early election], and we have been very clear about this at the negotiations and elsewhere […]. An early election would violate the Constitution,” said Moncada.

However, there is legal precedent for a constitutional reform that would allow an early election. In 1990, the Nicaraguan Constitution was amended “temporarily”, in order to hold an early election.

Daniel Ortega was president at the time. He lost the election of February, 1990 to Violeta Chamorro.

Electoral reform, including an early election, is part of the Alianza’s goals, though the consensus agenda, which was issued on March 21, does not explicitly mention an early election. Instead, it vaguely refers to “strengthening of democracy and electoral reforms to carry out electoral processes.”

The vague language suggests that an early election is not off the table. When asked about it, Alianza members Jose Pallais and Jose Adan Aguerri stated that it was, adding that a refusal to discuss it would render further negotiation pointless.

Another Alianza member, Azahalea Solis, said via Twitter that Moncada’s statements “can only be interpreted as a saint the the government has no intentions of complying with agreements. Freedom for all prisoners and early elections are red lines for the citizenry of Nicaragua.”

Whether or not the Alianza is willing to leave the negotiations if the government does not budge on the election issue remains to be seen.

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Negotiators Issue Communique Number 9

The negotiating teams for the Ortega-Murillo administration and the Alianza Civica issued their ninth joint statement, summarizing the meetings held throughout the week. As of Wednesday evening, “progress has been made on the agreement to strengthen constitutional rights and guarantees related to individual and social rights, as well as respect for human rights of Nicaraguans.”

Thus far, no one outside of the negotiation knows what that progress looks like.

The teams also reached an agreement “to follow up on the process of releasing the people who have been denied their freedom in the context of the events occurred since April of 2018.” Both sides met with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and have officially submitted an agreement that would allow the ICRC to oversee the release of all political prisoners.

The release of political prisoners is expected to begin once the ICRC signs on to the official agreement. This could happen within 24-to-48 hours, according to the Alianza’s Jose Pallais.

The number of political prisoners is in dispute. An estimate by the Comite Pro Liberacion de Presos Politicos places it at 802, while the IACHR documented 647.

The government’s Comision de la Verdad, Justicia y Paz — the Truth, Justice, and Peace Commission, a.k.a, “the Porras Commission” — considers only the IACHR number. According to the Commission, only 261 people remain in custody.

“Of the 386 people remaining, 152 have been freed; 61 were found to not be linked to the conflict; 54 have incomplete personal information, which makes it impossible to verify their current state; 112 are not in any penitentiary or police facility, and 7 appear twice on the list.

Porras Commission Statement (pg. 2)

 

Negotiations continue today.

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Pitazo Nacional

Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco (UNAB) called for a “pitazo nacional” on Wednesday evening. The pitazo follows up on a number of successful citizen protests that began on March 16, with the #ALaCalle March.

UNAB coalesces 75 civil society organizations. The coalition recently announced the formation of its “political council”, with 12 members who were elected during a general assembly.

As part of the Pitazo, UNAB members picketed in the vicinity of the Modelo Prison.

Many Nicaraguans joined the protest, by honking their car horns or clanging on pots and pans.

Other protesters imitated horn sounds.

The police was at hand in Managua during the Pitazo. For example, this bus full of police officers yelled obscenities at one of the reporting teams from Canal 10  as they went by.

Foreign Minister Moncada defended the police actions, when questioned by Michelle Polanco. “the police are there to safeguard order and ensure the safety of all citizens,” he stated. Moncada added that the police, through its intelligence operations, was privy to information unknown to the average citizen.

Oftentimes, we consider the actions of police as illegal, illegitimate, or in violation of human rights. Perhaps we do that because it affects us directly. However, the police, due to the information it has gathered, can prevent situations that could have grave consequences, In the context of political activities, there may be many elements or factors that the police has a duty to prevent.

In other words, Mr. Moncada believes that the police acts to prevent crime, rather than to criminalize protests.

 

 

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2 Comments

  1. Carmen C Pelham

    Great News Roundup!!! You’re on top of all the happenings. It’s a shame that Ortega wants to do everything his way. He wants to define who is a political prisoner, who is a terrorist, who has the right numbers of political prisoners. It’s his way or the highway! His “dialogue” is like talking to a wall. He knows what awaits him if he concedes too much. He’ll straddle the fence long enough pretending to go along but doing nothing while people become disenchanted with any peaceful transition and then… who knows what will happen. People are weary, desperate, hungry and very angry.

    1. dr.minuscula (Post author)

      He has most of the power, so, yeah… it is “his way or the highway.”

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