United States Commission denounces religious repression in Nicaragua

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) organized an online hearing to delve into the deterioration of religious freedom in Nicaragua, in which four witnesses pointed out the severe repressive procedure of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo against the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations.

The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan entity of the United States federal government that is responsible for monitoring, analyzing and reporting threats against religious freedom in various countries.

“Since 2018, the Nicaraguan government has severely restricted freedom of religion or belief. Catholic clergy and lay people have been arbitrarily arrested, imprisoned and exiled. Catholic charitable and educational organizations have been closed due to false accusations of money laundering and failure to properly register with authorities,” the USCIRF said.

The panel of witnesses was made up of Cristopher Hernández Roy, Felix Maradiaga, Jon Britton Hancock and Anexa Alfred, all experts on the Nicaraguan situation, who also advised the US government on how to contribute to improving religious freedom in the country and hold it accountable. to the authorities responsible for abuses against citizens.

Ortega’s objective is to dismantle the Catholic Church

Hernández Roy, who is deputy director and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, shared an analysis of the motivations of the Ortega and Murillo regime to move against religious freedom in the country, greatly affecting society.

“Religious institutions and leaders are closely linked to the communities they serve, which makes them a threat to the authoritarian project of Ortega and Murillo,” said Hernández Roy.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the ultimate objective of the regime is to “dismantle the Catholic Church” and other religious organizations, through relentless harassment and persecution. To counteract this, he advised the federal government of the United States to apply gradual measures that affect trade and imports of products of Nicaraguan origin.

In that sense, he also assured that the United States Department of State must consult with various international actors, including the Vatican, destination of the exiled clergy, to build a legal case that allows action against the regime.

The dictatorship seeks to “subjugate and manipulate” the faith in Nicaragua

During his testimony, Félix Maradiaga specified that the dictatorship’s attacks against religious freedom are only the beginning, to later go against other fundamental rights, such as freedom of thought and expression.

Likewise, he highlighted that unlike other communist regimes, such as Cuba and China, the actions of Ortega and Murillo are not necessarily aimed at promoting atheism, but at “subjugating and manipulating the faith of Nicaraguans.”

“At least 84 priests have been expelled from the country, forced into exile, prevented from re-entering Nicaragua and, in the worst cases, imprisoned and then sent into exile,” said Maradiaga, who serves as a trustee of Freedom House, in addition to being Nicaraguan human rights activist in exile.

“Complaints must continue regarding the banning of several religious orders and the expulsion from the country of at least 70 nuns dedicated to faith activities in Nicaragua, including the well-known Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Carmelite Sisters ”he added.

Finally, he recommended that the US government adopt the measures of the United Nations Organization (UN) on Nicaragua, to also collect information that would then allow possible criminal actions against authorities of the dictatorship and advised not to forget the political prisoners, but to ensure for his release.

Other Christian denominations also suffer persecution

Representing Mountain Gateway Ministry, an American organization dedicated to training evangelical ministers, Jon Britton Hancock denounced that in December 2023 Nicaraguan police arrested 11 of their local pastors on charges of money laundering. Additionally, Britton was accused of the same crime, along with his son and daughter-in-law. The organization strongly denies the accusations.

“The pastors have since been in a maximum security prison. “One of them is a woman, illegally separated from her children, one of whom was 2 months old at the time of her arrest,” said Britton, founder and president of the organization.

The detainees have been prevented from having contact with anyone, and were sentenced to between 12 and 15 years in prison, plus a large fine in US dollars. Although Mountain Gateway Ministry lost an appeal of the case before Nicaraguan justice, its legal status was taken away and its assets were confiscated, they continue to work through legal and diplomatic channels to resolve these problems.

Attacks against local indigenous communities

Finally, Anexa Alfred, member of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and leader of the Central American Miskitu ethnic group in exile, shared the suffering of the aboriginal populations, whose traditions and creeds have also been fiercely harassed by Ortega and Murillo.

Indigenous communities have suffered “persecution, criminalization, disappearances, massacres, forced displacements, invasion of their lands and disposition of their natural resources,” the activist denounced, adding that they are not immune to religious persecution either.

Alfred concluded by calling for an end to the systematic persecution against vulnerable populations and all religious institutions in Nicaragua.

The role of the Vatican in Nicaraguan reality

During the round of questions, Maradiaga pointed out that the apparent silence of the members of the Nicaraguan clergy in exile is due to the reprisals that the regime could take against their relatives who are still in the country.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to even interview any religious leaders in exile, because they have extended family—not only their blood relatives, but also their brothers and sisters in the faith—within Nicaragua,” the activist commented.

At the same time, Maradiaga catalogs Nicaragua as an extreme case of “transnational repression,” which forces members of the clergy to remain silent to protect those close to them.

In that sense, he expressed that although he would “like to hear a little more from Pope Francis,” he understands the situation. In January, the Pontiff condemned the dictatorship’s persecution against the Church and asked to promote dialogue. Furthermore, he called on the faithful to join in prayer for the persecuted.

In recent months, there have been developments several attempts at negotiation between the Holy See and the Ortega regime, which ultimately allowed the release of some imprisoned bishops, priests and seminariansamong them the renowned Bishop of Matagalpa, Mons. Rolando Álvarez.