Olesia Auxiliadora Muñoz Pavon is a choir director for the Santa Ana Parish in Niquinohomo in Nicaragua’s Masaya Department. Age 52, she has been imprisoned on false charges since 6 April 2023, having previously served a sentence from August 2018 until June 2019 – also on false charges.
Since the middle of January this year, like several others in the Women’s Holistic Penitentiary System commonly known as La Esperanza, Ms Muñoz Pavon has been denied any time outdoors where before she was allowed out once a week.
Her crime? Praying out loud.
Conditions in La Esperanza are poor. Cells lined with bunk beds hold up to 75 prisoners, and there are shortages of drinking water, beds and medicine or medical care. Some prisoners are held in individual confinement cells which have been altered so as to virtually seal the inmates inside. There are concerning and credible reports of prisoners being subjected to beatings during interrogations.
Political prisoners like Ms Muñoz Pavon are not allowed to have a Bible or any writing materials, which violates the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners – commonly referred to as the Nelson Mandela Rules. Domestic and international human rights and humanitarian groups are denied access to the country’s penitentiary centres.
A sweeping crackdown
This is not just the picture in La Esperanza, but indeed in prisons across Nicaragua which are increasingly crowded with political prisoners – including many religious leaders or adherents – who have been detained or imprisoned amid an increasingly severe government crackdown and a continued deterioration in the situation of human rights under President Daniel Ortega, his wife and vice-president Rosa Murillo, and the Sandinista National Liberation Front.
Religious groups have become a particular target – because the government fears their influence and prohibits any perceived criticism of the regime – even preaching about justice or praying for the general situation in the country. Many religious leaders have been harassed, threatened and arbitrarily detained. Religious institutions have been arbitrarily stripped of their legal status amid sweeping restrictions on independent civil society.
Over the past year, there has also been a significant uptick in the number of political prisoners who have been forcibly exiled from Nicaragua. These people have in essence been given an ultimatum: leave their country and lose their citizenship or face a lengthy prison sentence during which they will likely suffer similar inhumane treatment to that currently being meted out on Ms Muñoz Pavon and her fellow prisoners.
A striking parallel
The situation in Nicaragua draws interesting parallels to that of its close Latin American ally Cuba, where the ruling Communist Party has increasingly resorted to the hardline tactics of the past as it continues to do all in its power to bring the population under as much control as possible following the unprecedented nationwide protests of July 2021.
Part of the government’s strategy is to socially isolate political prisoners and their families in an effort not only to punish those who stand up for human rights and democracy, but also to deter others from doing the same.
Religious leaders report facing and in some cases feeling they have no choice but to succumb to pressure to expel the family members of political prisoners from their congregations.
In one case, Marta Perdomo Benítez, mother of political prisoners Jorge and Nadir Martín Perdomo, was first barred from attending the Baptist church she has attended all her life after the pastor was threatened by the government. When she attempted to enter a Roman Catholic Church in her town, San Jose de las Lajas, in order to attend a religious service and pray, she was stopped and told that neither she nor the mother of any other person imprisoned in relation to the events of 11 July 2021 were permitted to enter the church. The priest told her that he was powerless to do anything, for fear of government retaliation against him or his congregation.
Ms Perdomo Benítez’s sons, like many other political prisoners on the island, have been consistently denied the right to receive religious visits whilst in prison, and are not allowed to have any religious materials – again in violation of the Nelson Mandela Rules. Ms Perdomo Benítez and other parents of political prisoners have been warned that their imprisoned children will be punished should they continue to request that their religious rights be respected in prison.
Prisoners like the independent Yoruba religious leader, Loreto Hernández García have reported being subjected public humiliation and ridicule by prison officials because of their religious beliefs, and denied critical medical treatment. In another case, the Roman Catholic mother of Luis Emilio Cabrera Diaz was asked by prison officials why he does ‘not just pour holy water on himself’ after she requested that her son receive medical attention for a skin condition.
Strengthening independent voices
The mistreatment of political prisoners in Cuba and Nicaragua is part of the implementation of increasingly harsh repressive strategies across their respective societies as a whole. Both governments are well aware that the greatest threat to their vice-like grips on power comes from those, including the many religious leaders, who continue to bravely stand up and speak out for democracy, justice and human rights, no matter how much the authorities increase the cost for doing so.
In both cases, then, it falls to those in the international community who share such principles to stand with these courageous people in condemning the ongoing injustices for which the governments of Cuba and Nicaragua are responsible. Those who support these governments – like the similarly repressive regimes of China and Russia – must be challenged, whilst independent voices in both countries must be strengthened, amplified and echoed on the international stage.
By CSW’s Press & Public Affairs Officer Ellis Heasley
Click here to read CSW’s brand new report on Nicaragua.
Click here to read CSW’s brand new report on Cuba.
FoRB in Full 