harassment – Page 8 – FoRB in Full

Protestant, Catholic, Critic, Ally: No-one is safe in Nicaragua

Posted on 21/05/202404/03/2025 by cswpress in Latin America, Nicaragua

The government decides to whom to extend its hand and to whom to close it, the Protestant churches that today shake the hand of the dictatorship could tomorrow be strangled by the same hand.

A Nicaraguan human rights defender

On Tuesday 12 December 2023, Nicaraguan security forces carried out an operation that would see 11 Protestant leaders arrested and detained across the country by the end of the day. The organisation with which the leaders were affiliated, Mountain Gateway, a Protestant organisation based out of Texas, and which has operated legally in Nicaragua since 2015 under the name Puerta de la Montana, was stripped of its legal status, and its assets, including 47 vehicles and four properties, were confiscated by the government.

One month later, the government announced that it was pursuing criminal charges against those detained as well as three United States citizens (in absentia), on accusations of money laundering and organised crime. Show trials, in which the government produced no evidence to back up the charges, were held, and in March 2024, the 11 detainees were sentenced to between 12 and 15 years in prison and fined $80 million US dollars.

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Protestante, católico, crítico o aliado: Nadie está a salvo en Nicaragua

Posted on 21/05/202422/05/2024 by cswpress in español, Latin America ES, Nicaragua ES

El gobierno decide a quién extender su mano y a quién cerrarla, las iglesias protestantes que hoy estrechan la mano de la dictadura podrían mañana ser estranguladas por la misma mano.

Un defensor de derechos humanos nicaragüense

El martes 12 de diciembre de 2023, las fuerzas de seguridad nicaragüenses llevaron a cabo una operación que, al final del día, terminaría con 11 líderes protestantes detenidos en todo el país. La organización a la que estaban afiliados los líderes, Mountain Gateway, una organización protestante con sede en Texas, y que ha operado legalmente en Nicaragua desde 2015 bajo el nombre de Puerta de la Montaña, fue despojada de su estatus legal, y sus bienes, incluidos 47 vehículos y cuatro propiedades, fueron confiscados por el gobierno.

Un mes después, el Gobierno anunció que presentaría cargos penales contra los detenidos, así como contra tres ciudadanos estadounidenses (en ausencia), acusados de lavado de dinero y crimen organizado. Se celebraron juicios falsos, en los que el gobierno no presentó pruebas que respaldaran los cargos, y en marzo de 2024, los 11 detenidos fueron condenados a entre 12 y 15 años de prisión y multados con 80 millones de dólares estadounidenses.

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The growing cost of standing up for human rights in Nicaragua and Cuba

Posted on 18/03/202418/03/2024 by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America, Nicaragua

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.

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The world must honour the memory of Cao Shunli by standing up for human rights defenders in China

Posted on 14/03/2024 by cswpress in Asia, China

Ten years ago today, Cao Shunli died in a military hospital in Beijing.

A prominent human rights activist, Ms Cao fought injustice in China for over a decade prior to her passing at the age of 53. In 2002, she was fired from a government job after she raised concerns about corruption in her department. Over the next 12 years she became a vocal advocate for human rights and anti-corruption, her work often specifically focused on the mistreatment of human rights defenders and petitioners (citizens who petition authorities for the redress of their grievances) by the Chinese authorities.

As is the case for so many others like her in China, Ms Cao’s work frequently put her at odd with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She was regularly subjected to arbitrary detention, house arrest and enforced disappearance, and served two stints in the country’s notorious labour camps for a total of 27 months.

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From faith to exile in Guerrero, Mexico

Posted on 14/02/202414/02/2024 by cswpress in Latin America, Mexico

Damián and his family live on the outskirts of the centre of Ayutla de los Libres¹ in south-western Mexico. In May 2022, they and two other families bought the land after they were expelled from their village because they belong to a religious minority.

On 25 March 2021, Damián, age 38 at the time, was called before the Ahucachahue community assembly in Ayutla de los Libres Municipality, located in the Costa Chica region of Guerrero. The people of Ahucachahue are Mixteco, and the majority practice Roman Catholicism. At the meeting, community leaders informed him that he had been appointed to lead the festivals in honor of San Isidro Labrador,² their patron saint. Damián would be responsible for contracting musical groups and suppliers of alcohol and food, in addition to the administrative tasks that accompany the rituals specific to the Roman Catholic saint.