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{"code":"26553","sect":"Central America","sect_slug":"central-america","hits":"369","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202211\/centroamerica\/26553","link_edit":"","name":"Argentina Seeks Justice for Crimes during 2018 Repression in Nicaragua","slug":"argentina-seeks-justice-for-crimes-during-2018-repression-in-nicaragua","info":"Complaints before Argentinian justice have resulted in a case accusing Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo, and a dozen other top officials of crimes against humanity. One of the lawyers behind the probe concedes that the prospect of any verdict is far-flung, but it has made enough noise for a top U.S. diplomat to meet with the prosecution.","mtag":"Newsletter","noun":{"html":"Nelson Rauda Zablah and Jos\u00e9 Luis Sanz","data":{"nelson-rauda-zablah-and-jose-luis-sanz":{"sort":"","slug":"nelson-rauda-zablah-and-jose-luis-sanz","path":"nelson_rauda_zablah_and_jose_luis_sanz","name":"Nelson Rauda Zablah and Jos\u00e9 Luis Sanz"}}},"view":"369","pict":{"cms-image-000038319-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"38319","name":"cms-image-000038319.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038319.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038319.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000038319-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;A demonstrator shows a bullet from an MP5, a sub-machine gun used by Nicaraguan police to attack protestors in Masaya on June 2, 2018. International organizations and journalists reported during the mass protests that government forces often shot to kill. Photo V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EA demonstrator shows a bullet from an MP5, a sub-machine gun used by Nicaraguan police to attack protestors in Masaya on June 2, 2018. International organizations and journalists reported during the mass protests that government forces often shot to kill. Photo V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000038320-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"38320","name":"cms-image-000038320.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038320.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038320.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000038320-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Jos\u00e9 Alexander Berm\u00fadez, law student at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. On Saturday, April 21, 2018, the first day of protests against reforms to the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute, he was walking home in Managua when police detained and assaulted him. He was detained in El Chipote Prison, where he says he was tortured. Photo: Fred Ramos\/El Faro&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EJos\u00e9 Alexander Berm\u00fadez, law student at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. On Saturday, April 21, 2018, the first day of protests against reforms to the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute, he was walking home in Managua when police detained and assaulted him. He was detained in El Chipote Prison, where he says he was tortured. Photo: Fred Ramos\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":38319,"date":{"live":"2022\/11\/29"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2022","data_post_dateLive_MM":"11","data_post_dateLive_DD":"29","text":"\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"\/suscribe\/en\/\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESubscribe to our newsletter\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWhile \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202206\/centroamerica\/26247\/Ortega-Finds-Complicity-in-Central-American-Presidents.htm\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003ECentral American Governments stay silent\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on the yearslong, ever-spiraling repression in Nicaragua, a criminal law professor at Buenos Aires University (UBA) and a television political pundit made international waves when on October 5 Argentinian federal judge Ariel Lijo granted their request to open a criminal case against the Ortega-Murillo regime for human rights violations stemming from the 2018 crisis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe move surprised the human rights movement in Argentina, including those who work with victims of the Nicaraguan repression. But the case, first filed individually by lawyers Dar\u00edo Richarte and Diego Pirola, received a boost earlier this month when the Buenos Aires-based Inter-American Human Rights Legal Aid Center (Calidh) signed on as a plaintiff.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe prosecution is centered on the repression during protests in 2018 where over 350 Nicaraguans were killed by state security forces, 2,000 were injured, and over 550 people arrested and put on trial. Besides Ortega and his vice president-slash-wife Murillo, the plaintiffs are \u003Cstrong\u003Ealso seeking indictments of the chiefs of the Army and Police, Supreme Court President\u003C\/strong\u003E Alba Luz Ramos, President of Congress Gustavo Porras, among others.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EJudge Lijo has started by asking the Nicaraguan regime about any open cases on extrajudicial killings, illegal detentions, enforced disappearance, or torture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=2000&ImageId=38320 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Jos\u00e9 Alexander Berm\u00fadez, law student at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. On Saturday, April 21, 2018, the first day of protests against reforms to the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute, he was walking home in Managua when police detained and assaulted him. He was detained in El Chipote Prison, where he says he was tortured. Photo: Fred Ramos\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Jos\u00e9 Alexander Berm\u00fadez, law student at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. On Saturday, April 21, 2018, the first day of protests against reforms to the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute, he was walking home in Managua when police detained and assaulted him. He was detained in El Chipote Prison, where he says he was tortured. Photo: Fred Ramos\/El Faro \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ENicaragua, whose justice system is completely controlled by Ortega and which in recent years has become a refuge of impunity for fugitive Central American politicians, businessmen, and criminal groups, isn\u2019t expected to cooperate with the Argentinian probe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe lawyer behind Calidh, Danny Ram\u00edrez-Ay\u00e9rdiz, a Nicaraguan who has lived in Argentina for almost a decade, admits skepticism about the case\u2019s possible judicial reach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cWe have to read this in terms of international relations and not just in terms of immediate results or judicial outcomes,\u201d Ram\u00edrez told El Faro English. \u201cJust the fact of the \u003Cstrong\u003Eprocess being opened is a step beyond the press releases\u003C\/strong\u003E [from international governments and organizations] that Nicaraguans are tired of.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re not thinking about extraditions [from Nicaragua] because we know that\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Ram\u00edrez said. \u201cWe are thinking about the victims, in terms of memory, truth, justice, and reparation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EU.S. \u201cwelcomes the effort\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EArgentina\u2019s coalition government, including Peronist VP Cristina Kirchner, has been slow to pressure against human rights violations in Nicaragua, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.batimes.com.ar\/news\/argentina\/argentina-abstains-from-condemning-nicaraguan-dictatorships-human-rights-violations.phtml\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003Eabstaining on several OAS votes condemning\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E Ortega\u2019s abuse of power, including his fraudulent reelection to a fourth term.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EPresident Alberto Fern\u00e1ndez denounced, in contrast, the attendance of senior Iranian official Mohsen Rezai \u2014implicated in the brutal 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that left 85 dead\u2014 as guest of honor at the inauguration in January.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThis will not affect the process. \u003Cstrong\u003EArgentina is a prominent example of justice in crimes against humanity\u003C\/strong\u003E, having convicted over 1,000 people for political crimes during its last dictatorship (1976-1983). The acknowledgement of universal jurisdiction in article 118 of the Argentinian constitution has allowed for watershed international investigations like those into Spain\u2019s Franco dictatorship and the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThough many national cases against the Argentine dictatorship remain on deck, the system is \u201cable to process them\u201d, says Pablo Gargiulo, a human rights lawyer who takes part in a trial on behalf of his parents, abducted by the Police in 1975. \u201cTrials of crimes against humanity haven\u2019t saturated the system,\u201d Gargiulo said, \u201cWhat\u2019s difficult is to push forward an investigation in a country different from where the facts occurred.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EA State Department spokesperson told El Faro English that Global Criminal Justice Ambassador Beth Van Schaack\u003Cstrong\u003E \u201cwas recently in Argentina, where she met with prosecutors\u003C\/strong\u003E and lawyers working on a range of universal jurisdiction cases being brought in the Federal Courts of Argentina, including those related to alleged atrocities in Nicaragua.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=2000&ImageId=38319 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"A demonstrator shows a bullet from an MP5, a sub-machine gun used by Nicaraguan police to attack protestors in Masaya on June 2, 2018. International organizations and journalists reported during the mass protests that government forces often shot to kill. Photo V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E A demonstrator shows a bullet from an MP5, a sub-machine gun used by Nicaraguan police to attack protestors in Masaya on June 2, 2018. International organizations and journalists reported during the mass protests that government forces often shot to kill. Photo V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ESince 2017, two U.S. administrations have sanctioned over 550 Nicaraguan regime officials in response to the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.oas.org\/en\/iachr\/jsForm\/?File=\/en\/iachr\/media_center\/preleases\/2022\/081.asp\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003Eescalation of repression that has incarcerated nearly 200 political prisoners\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, including student, union, and feminist leaders and seven opposition candidates who looked to compete with Ortega in the 2021 elections.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWhile the U.S. has failed to gain any leverage with the Ortega-Murillo clan or muster any room for government negotiation with the opposition, like the talks underway in \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/americas\/20221126-venezuela-opposition-sign-social-protection-agreeement-resume-talks\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003EVenezuela\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, the State Department said it \u201cwelcomes efforts of all international partners\u201d to hold accountable \u201cthose responsible for atrocity crimes in credible judicial processes.\u201d\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIronically, the U.S. has a muddled relationship with universal jurisdiction, supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC)\u2019s efforts to examine the Russian war against Ukraine but refusing to sign the Rome Statute \u2014the ICC\u2019s founding accord\u2014 and snarling at any initiative to try U.S. citizens.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ERam\u00edrez thinks of Argentinian courts as an alternative to places like the Inter-American Court of Human Rights or even Spain, which recently took a \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202006\/el_salvador\/0000024556-in-jesuit-massacre-trial-montano-shifts-blame-to-ministry-of-defense-joint-general-staff\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003ESalvadoran colonel to trial for the assassination of six Jesuit priests in 1989\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cThe denial of the Nicaraguan state is a double-victimization for victims. If another state issues a sentence, declares responsibilities and sanctions, this produces a deep effect for victims,\u201d he said. \u201cTo feel acknowledged, listened to, and not ignored is a central part of it,\u201d he added.\u003C\/p\u003E"}
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