Tag: arbitrary detention

¿Dónde están? Carmen María Sáenz Martínez y Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda son prisioneras de un régimen que solo busca su propia supervivencia

Posted on by cswpress in español, Latin America ES, Nicaragua ES

A las 6 de la mañana del 10 de agosto de 2024, quince agentes de policía con pasamontañas portando rifles AK-47 arrestaron a Carmen María Sáenz Martínez, de 49 años, en su casa en Lomas de Santo Tomás en la ciudad de Matagalpa, Nicaragua. 

Dos horas después, la policía en dos patrullas detuvo a la colega de Carmen, Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda, de 58 años, en la Finca Guadalupana en Samulalí en el Municipio de San Ramón. 

Ambas mujeres trabajaban con la Diócesis Católica Romana de Matagalpa, anteriormente dirigida por el ahora exiliado obispo Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, quien pasó casi un año y medio en prisión antes de ser expulsado del país hacia al Vaticano en enero de 2024. Lesbia había trabajado con el proyecto de crédito rural y urbano de la diócesis desde 2006, y Carmen como promotora de justicia en casos de anulación de matrimonios, desde 2018. 

Desde los arrestos, sus familias no han sabido nada de ellas.  

Continue reading “¿Dónde están? Carmen María Sáenz Martínez y Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda son prisioneras de un régimen que solo busca su propia supervivencia” →
CHN Tongxin Great Mosque in Wuzhong, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. FREE TO USE

When the facts and the law don’t matter, a guilty verdict is only a matter of time

Posted on by cswpress in Asia, China

‘There has been a powerful hand behind the scenes interfering and manipulating the trial of my case.’

– A quote from Ma Yanhu’s appeal letter, seen by CSW

For two decades, Ma Yanhu worked as a tour organiser for hundreds of Chinese Muslims looking to make the Hajj pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Based in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in north-central China, and originally trained as an Islamic theologian, Ma’s work involved booking flights, arranging essential travel documents, and even leading private tour groups to the city until the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prohibited it.

Continue reading “When the facts and the law don’t matter, a guilty verdict is only a matter of time” →

Caught between two paranoid and barbaric military forces, nowhere is safe for the people of Sudan 

Posted on by cswpress in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan

‘We live under miserable conditions and lack all basic needs.’ 

– A resident of Al Thora Mobe village, which has been under RSF control since December 2023 

It has been 20 months and counting since a conflict broke out between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in April 2023, described by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as ‘marked by an insidious disregard for human life.’  

The grim toll of the violence so far is at least 14,600 dead and 26,000 injured, with civilians trapped between the warring sides and bearing the brunt of the casualties. One study estimates that the true death toll could be as high as 61,000. 

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UN International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances: Honouring Eritrea’s Missing Voices

Posted on by cswpress in Eritrea, Sub-Saharan Africa

On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, CSW shares a guest blog post from our friends and partners at Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRC-E).

As the world marks the UN International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we stand in solidarity with the countless Eritrean families who have endured decades of pain, uncertainty, and fear. This day is a poignant reminder of the grave human rights violations committed by the Eritrean government, which continues to use enforced disappearance as a means to silence dissent and control its population.

Eritrea is one of the most repressive states in the world, where enforced disappearances are not isolated incidents, but part of a systematic campaign to quash opposition. Thousands of Eritreans, including political dissidents, journalists, religious figures, and ordinary citizens, have been forcibly disappeared—detained without trial, often in secret prisons, leaving their families in the dark about their fate or whereabouts.

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Every Sunday…

Posted on by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America

Every Sunday, between 12:30pm and 1pm, Berta Soler Fernández prepares herself.  She and her husband, Ángel Moya Acosta step outside their home, a square, two story building painted red, with a light green porch. They have every intention of making their way to a Roman Catholic Church in the Miramar section of Havana, Cuba. The church is named for Saint Rita of Cascia, the patron saint of abuse, loss, peace, desperate cases and lost causes. They will attend Mass and offer up prayers.  

Berta is dressed all in white. 

Every Sunday, between 12:30pm and 1pm, Berta and Ángel open the door of their home and are met by National Revolutionary Police (NRP) officers and Department of State Security (DSS) agents. Mobs of paramilitary members, some holding signs with offensive and insulting messages, hold up mobile phones as they record the couple’s movements. The two are forced into DSS cars with private license plates and, instead of going to Mass, they are taken to an NRP station. They are ordered to undergo an intrusive medical examination. They refuse because they have not asked for an examination and know that they will not be provided with the results anyway. Those will go to the DSS. Berta and Ángel are then sent to semi-dark prison cells where they will be held until the following morning. They will be taken by car and dropped off near their home, which also serves as the national headquarters for the Ladies in White, a dissident group that has been holding peaceful protests in support of political prisoners since 2003. 

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