Families say Nicaragua’s prison conditions are deteriorating

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) – Relatives of political figures held captive in Nicaragua since a series of arrests prior to this …

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) – Relatives of politicians held captive in Nicaragua since a series of arrests ahead of this month’s presidential election on Saturday expressed concern over the declining health of inmates and called for their immediate release.

The families distributed a statement to journalists complaining that the prisoners were exposed to isolation, constant interrogation and inadequate food.

“My husband has lost 31 pounds since he was captured five months ago,” Deyanira Parrales, wife of former Deputy Secretary of State Víctor Hugo Tinoco, told the Associated Press. “They do not allow us to feed him and hygiene products are limited.”

She said she had last seen her 69-year-old husband on Monday in the capital’s El Chipote prison, where 39 opposition figures have been detained since the arrests began in May. The rallies include seven people who had been considered possible rivals for President Daniel Ortega in the November 7 presidential election.

In that vote – stripped of leading opposition figures and condemned as illegitimate by the United States, the European Union and the Organization of American General Assembly – the leader of the Sandinista party, now 76, won a fourth term in a row.

‘The interrogations of my husband continue daily. They do not allow his lawyer to attend and he has almost no sun, ”Parrales said. “His worsening is reflected in the fact that he now has to take a double dose of anti-anxiety, antidepressant and anti-hypertension medication.”

She demanded his immediate release so he can help take care of a daughter with cancer.

The family statement complained that they were not allowed to bring the prisoners’ blankets and said that some were kept in cells with lights on 24 hours a day, while others were kept in the dark. They said most of the cells were small, with concrete slabs covered in worn mattresses.

The report said opposition activists Tamara Dávila, Ana Margarita Vijil, Suyén Barahona and Dora María Tellez were being held in solitary confinement.

Several of the inmates, such as former guerrilla commander Tellez and former UN ambassador Tinoco, are former allies of Ortega, who broke out and accused him of becoming dictatorial.

Vice President Rosario Murillo’s office, Ortega’s wife and government spokesman, did not respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Saturday issued a statement deploring the government’s decision to withdraw from the affiliated organization of US states “in the context of serious human rights violations.”

Nicaragua’s Secretary of State Denis Moncada said at a news conference on Friday that he had informed OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro of the agency’s “repeated interference” in Nicaragua.

The ruling Sandinista front and its allies control Congress and all state institutions. Ortega first served as president from 1985 to 1990, following the 1979 revolution that overthrew the Somoza family’s dictatorship before returning to power in 2007.

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