Nicaragua: 5 Dead and 3 Wounded After Attack on Indigenous Group

The human rights crisis in Nicaragua keeps eroding as an Indigenous group was reportedly attacked by suspected settlers over the weekend, leaving five of them dead and three others wounded.

The incident comes as the country under the Daniel Ortega dictatorship has repeatedly suppressed all opposition, including the Roman Catholic Church. The crackdown has led to an unprecedented human rights crisis, with people trying to migrate out of there, resulting in another migration crisis for Costa Rica and the United States.

The recent attack was so horrid that some of the victims' bodies were reportedly mutilated, according to the director of the Del Río Foundation, Amaru Ruiz, who stated that the victims belonged to the Indigenous Mayangna group.

The Associated Press reported that the attackers burned 16 houses in the community of Wilu in northern Nicaragua. The attack reportedly happened last Saturday, with Ruiz calling it "yet another massacre."

Attacks on Indigenous people in Nicaragua have been happening for a long time but are barely reported outside the country. These attacks are often made by settlers who want to claim land owned by the Indigenous groups.

The local Indigenous regional government of Sauni As released a statement after the attack, saying that "all of the houses in the Wilu community have been burned," and "families have been left without shelter, food or clothing."

The group claims the attack came from "70 heavily armed non-Indigenous settlers."

The land where the attack happened is the Bosawas nature reserve, which has been set aside for Indigenous groups and environmental protection. However, settlers have been trying to get the land for themselves for ranching and farming purposes, as well as illegal mining and logging.

Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua Continues To Erode

Earlier this month, the United Nations Human Rights Council held an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner's oral update on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua. It touched on the 222 political prisoners exiled to the United States, as well as the Ortega government stripping them of their citizenship.

The UN Human Rights body revealed that aside from the 222 exiled individuals, Nicaragua also arbitrarily declared 94 other individuals "traitors to the homeland" without any trial and were also stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship. These are human rights defenders, journalists, activists, and social and political leaders who have fled Nicaragua in exile due to the Ortega regime's crackdown on any sort of opposition.

The UN OHCHR then condemned the act.

Human Rights Watch Demands Nicaragua to End Attacks on Catholic and Civil Entities

It is not just the UN that has been growing concerned about what is happening in Nicaragua, but other independent rights groups as well. One of them is Human Rights Watch, which called on the Ortega regime "for the unconditional release of the 37 individuals that the government is still arbitrarily depriving of their freedom."

According to the Boston Pilot, Human Rights Watch's acting executive director, Tirana Hassan, stated, "The situation in Nicaragua has been getting progressively worse," thanks to the Ortega government. "What we have seen is ... attacks all across the board on civil society, freedom of religion, and ... on political participation," said the human rights defender.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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