“General debate on the oral update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and oral updates of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela"

Agenda Item 2: - Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Statement by: Association Ma'onah for Human Rights and Immigration

15 September 2020

Thank you, President,

We welcome the oral update of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights activists in the Republic of Nicaragua. Human rights defenders are continuously being unlawfully detained and tortured, for exercising their right to freedom of expression and to peaceful assembly.

Ma’onah Association and Geneva International Centre for Justice highlight that, beyond the incarceration of human rights activists with no legal grounds, political prisoners continue to be discriminated against, in the form of extreme isolation and a lack of access to basic healthcare. More specifically, political prisoners’ requests for medical attention are systematically ignored by judges, which is especially alarming during the pandemic. Former political detainees have also reported being tortured and abused during their incarceration.

Beyond this, we draw the Council’s attention to the so-called “revolving door” mechanism continuously used by the Nicaraguan government, which consists of arresting and releasing the same amount of human rights activists. This allows the government to strategically arrest political opponents in order to inhibit political opposition, while regularly releasing other activists, in an effort to maintain its public image, and deny the existence of political prisoners.

In countless other countries, such as Iraq and Yemen, arbitrary detention and assassinations of human rights activists remain widespread and systemic issues.

Thus, we call upon the Council to pressure all countries to release political prisoners and punish the perpetrators.

Thank you.

Justice, Human rights, Geneva, geneva4justice, GICJ, Geneva International Centre For Justice