Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, in a file photo. Europa Press / Contact / Xin Yuewei
The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has ordered the dissolution of the Nicaraguan Red Cross, a humanitarian organization founded in 1931 when the city of Managua was hit by an earthquake and then destroyed by fire. The first secretary of parliament, Sandinista MP Lorna Dixon, presented a bill this Wednesday that not only repeals the founding decree of the organization, but also requires the association’s assets to be confiscated and “transferred” to the Ministry of Health (Minsa). .
The Sandinistas’ main argument is that the Nicaraguan Red Cross is guided by the “fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement,” which include humanity, impartiality, and neutrality. The regime accuses the Nicaraguan association of “acting against these principles” in 2018, the year of massive social protests against the presidential couple. Back then, the humanitarian organization took to the streets to heal and care for the thousands of wounded left behind by police and paramilitary repression.
“In the 2018 acts that threatened the peace and stability of the nation, some affiliates of this association acted in violation of these principles and its founding law and constitution; and the association itself has violated the laws of the country by disregarding and even supporting this act by its affiliates,” the document, approved by Sandinista lawmakers, reads.
The government also alleges that the Nicaraguan Red Cross “violated its duties and responsibilities set out in Law No. 1115, General Law on the Regulation and Control of Non-Profit Organizations (OSFL)” by submitting “financial statements, accounting balance sheet, tax return, lack of verification of their donors and funders, outdated information in the register of the Ministry of Interior”. In other words, the same allegations that the Ortega and Murillo regimes have leveled at the 3,290 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who have been beheaded since 2018 for failing to submit to the Foreign Agents Act, one of the rules on silence and disruption of civil society.
“This is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back, another attempt to control absolutely everything that happens in Nicaragua. This is against international regulations and the international principles of the Red Cross,” Ana Quirós, public health expert and denationalized feminist, told EL PAÍS. “By becoming a government agency, it’s no longer really the Red Cross, but an organization that has to be firstly apolitical and secondly independent. Third, it doesn’t have to be discriminatory. And what we know about the Department of Health and the government’s stance is the opposite.”
confiscation of assets
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Immediately thereafter, in Article 3 of the repeal law, the government orders the confiscation of all Nicaraguan Red Cross assets, but overlaps with the term “transfer of assets.” “All of the assets, assets and interests previously owned by the National Association called the Nicaraguan Red Cross will become state property and will be administered by the Nicaraguan Red Cross, a devolved entity affiliated with the Ministry of Health (MINSA). “, they set up Sandinista legislatures.
After the dissolution of the association, the deputies created another figure controlled by the state with the following argument: “Since 2007, the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity has strengthened the Family and Community Health Model (MOSAFC), thereby guaranteeing a comprehensive approach in which the leading role of families is emphasized, ensuring health from the beginning of life, childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and making families active subjects in the social construction of their own health. This is the spirit that ensures the health of Nicaraguans in Nicaragua according to a Christian, socialist and solidarity model.”
The International Red Cross has attempted to act as a humanitarian mediator in the socio-political crisis in Nicaragua, relying on the now-defunct association, particularly on issues related to political prisoners. However, Ortega and Murillo’s anger against the international body has as precedent not only denial of access to prisons, but also the fact that in March 2022 they expelled the head of mission, Thomas Ess, without communicating the reason for the decision.
The dissolution of the Nicaraguan Red Cross interrupts more than a dozen humanitarian projects and courses they are developing in indigenous communities, on issues such as violence prevention, food insecurity, drought and the analysis of human biological samples that help study, prevent, diagnose and treat diseases in its laboratories across the country.
“The worst thing is that you can get some kind of service through the Red Cross, maybe not medical care, but referrals in emergencies.” However, by being integrated into the Ministry of Health, it loses all independence. If we were in a situation like 2018, it would also not be possible for the Red Cross to refer injured people or deny them care like the public health system did with the demonstrators,” says Quirós.
Suspended Defender of Political Prisoners
The day before the humanitarian association was dissolved, the judiciary ordered Ortega-Murillo to definitively practice the professions of lawyer and notary,” said lawyer Yonarqui Martínez. The provision was published in a circular, which also declared the title of this professional, dedicated to the defense of political prisoners in Nicaragua, to be “null”.
In recent weeks, Martínez has denounced the manhunts and explicit trials of opponents accused by Sandinista judges of political crimes such as “undermining national sovereignty” and “spreading false news.”
The permanent suspension of Martínez’s legal title is another blow to constitutional rights, along with the deprivation of 222 Nicaraguan nationals, a decision that has no legal basis. It is not the first time that lawyers and jurists have been suspended for political reasons. However, those affected have decided not to come forward for fear of reprisals.
“There are precedents where lawyers have been suspended, as in the case of Dr. Orietta Benavides and defender Manuel Urbina Lara. Both were arbitrarily dismissed for merely carrying out their work as defense attorneys and it shows how Nicaragua disregards the specific procedures set out both in current notary legislation and in relation to the career of the administrative judge,” said Braulio Abarca , EL PAÍS human rights defender in exile in Costa Rica.
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