NICARAGUA: Government uses “shoot to kill” to repress student protest

Amnesty International has reported that in response to social protests during April and May 2018, the Nicaraguan government has adopted a strategy of violent repression not seen in the country for years.

They further report that more than 70 people were killed by the state and hundreds were seriously injured. It is in this context, and with acts of repression continuing to take place in the country at the time of writing, that Amnesty International is publishing this report.

“The Nicaraguan authorities have turned on their own people in a vicious, sustained and frequently lethal assault on their rights to life, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The government of President Ortega has then shamelessly tried to cover up these atrocities, violating the victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparation,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

“The state must immediately stop repressing the people who protest, particularly young students, and respect their right to criticize public policies. Instead of criminalizing them, the government of President Ortega must allow an international commission to be established to carry out a prompt, impartial and effective investigation, and, where appropriate, bring charges against all those suspected of committing or ordering extrajudicial executions or the excessive use of force and other serious human rights violations and crimes under international law.”