Ortega’s political prisoners, like my husband, are denied Bibles, but their faith endures
The Sandinista government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo — the vice president — is intent on winning Nicaragua’s Nov. 7 election, despite CID Gallup polling in September that shows they enjoy only 19% support.
To guarantee their chances, they have locked up all viable opposition candidates, invoking two authoritarian laws that the party-controlled National Assembly recently passed. The international community is outraged, but on election day, the OrtegaMurillo ticket will certainly prevail, given that no competition has been allowed.
Disenchanted voters will stay away from the polls, but the Sandinistas will bus in some of their remaining stalwarts to ensure they have the votes they need.
Why do Nicaraguans reject the Ortega-Murillo government? In April
2018, massive citizen protests over a proposed cut in social security benefits resulted in a harsh crackdown by the government and shadowy paramilitary groups.
At least 350 people were killed, and hundreds were imprisoned. Investors fled, the economy collapsed and extreme poverty became the new normal. The Nicaraguan government looked away when COVID-19 spread in the country and, in recent months, devastated families who have no access to adequate healthcare. The Organization of American States and the U.N. Human Rights Council have sharply criticized Nicaragua’s regime after the government’s arbitrary detention of seven leading opposition candidates for president in May and June this year.
My husband, Felix Maradiaga — a non-violent activist — is one of those candidates. He was beaten and locked up on June 8 in the notorious El Chipote Prison — a hell-hole — along with other candidates and more than 30 opposition figures. Our families knew almost nothing of their fate until we were allowed a single, short visit in September that confirmed, for the moment, that our loved ones were alive.
Based on reports, the political prisoners, effectively, are being tortured. They are locked in cells with the lights on constantly, denied contact with others, interrogated incessantly, denied prescription medicines, forced to sleep without blankets and underfed and malnourished.
The uncertainty of their survival weighs heavily on all of us. They have been held incommunicado.
Like other prisoners and most Nicaraguans, my husband is a devout Christian. During that prison visit, his one request to his family was to be given a Bible. We learned that none of the political prisoners has been allowed a Bible or pastoral support. Such treatment is inhumane and lacks all common decency. In our darkest moments, we rely on our faith to survive. Clearly, Nicaragua’s regime does not want that to be an option.
The U.N. Special Rapporteur for freedom of religion or belief, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, notes that, “Governments are obliged to respect the right of all persons to freedom of religion or belief — including prisoners who have the right to medical attention, spiritual guidance and access to religious articles, such as
Bibles.”
In these dark moments, Nicaragua’s political prisoners seek the Bible for comfort, the path it lights for hope and justice and its inspiring lessons about others imprisoned for their beliefs — John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Peter and Paul and, of course, Jesus himself.
My husband, like all opposition detainees, wants to restore democracy and put Nicaragua on the path to prosperity.
The corrupt OrtegaMurillo family has become a group of dictators who have enriched themselves while most Nicaraguans live below the poverty line.
We, family members of the imprisoned, implore the United Nations, the OAS and all countries to demand the Nicaraguan government respect the basic human rights of all citizens — including the right to religious freedom — and immediately release Nicaragua’s political prisoners.
Berta Valle is a Nicaraguan journalist and human-rights activist. She is married to Félix Maradiaga, a pro-democracy activist and presidential candidate.