Government continues to target Roman Catholic leaders

A Roman Catholic priest in the Northern Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region was detained by police on Sunday, 14 August, while a bishop and 11 othersremain blockaded by armed security forces inside the Curia of the Diocese of Matagalpa, Nicaragua. The group has been inside the Curia since 4 August.

The Diocese of Siuna issued a statement on 14 August, confirming the detention of Father Óscar Benavides who leads the Parish of Espíritu Santo Mulukukú, stating “…we do not know the reasons or motive for his detention, we hope that the authorities will keep us informed.” In a separate statement posted two days earlier, the diocese had announced that a procession in honour of the Virgin of Fatima, planned for 14 August, was suspended.

Over the past few months, the Nicaraguan government has arrested at least two priests and forcibly closed eight radio and television stations run by the Roman Catholic Church. A priest in the city of Sébaco in Matagalpa Department was blockaded inside his parish for five days, starting on 1 August. The same day, heavily armed security forces surrounded the Curia in the city of Matagalpa, trapping Bishop Rolando Alvarez and eleven others – ten additional men and one woman, including five priests, two seminarians, two chorists and two cameramen – inside.

The Nicaraguan police issued a statementclaiming that they had set up the cordon to protect the population, accusing the diocese, under the leadership of Bishop Alvarez of “…attempting to organize violent groups, inciting them to carry out acts of hatred against the population, provoking environment of anxiety and disorder, disturbing the peace and harmony of the community, with the purpose of destabilizing the Nicaraguan State and attacking its constitutional authorities.”The statement went on to say that an investigation had been opened to identify who was behind the “criminal acts.”

The bishop and those inside the Curia with him have continued to hold daily Mass online via social media. In one service, Bishop Alvarez expressed gratitude to those who continue to support them, “…look we are not alone, here in the Episcopal Curia of Matagalpa. God is with us. We are not alone. You are with us, from there, from your homes in the mountains, in the countryside, in the city, in the centers of the plazas of the cities of the towns, of the villages. There is a multitude of angels accompanying us, but also a multitude, you, who express prayer and supplication and all of those who have written to us, you are doing this too.”

Over the past week, the police have summoned a number of individuals in Matagalpa who have publicly expressed support for Bishop Alvarez. The Nicaraguan Centre for Human Rights issued an alertvia social media, “We warn that the regime through its communication is not only threatening Monsignor Alvarez, the threat is collective: ‘The people under investigation will stay in their houses.’ What other people? Do they refer to the people of Nicaragua? Will they silence those who support the church [sic]?”

CSW’s Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said, “The situation in Nicaragua is growing more alarming by the day with twelve individuals blockaded in the Matagalpa Curia, a priest arrested and detained on unspecified charges in The Northern Caribbean Coast Autonomous Zone, and an unknown number of individuals who have received official police summons solely because of their support for Bishop Alvarez and the Matagalpa Roman Catholic Diocese. We urge the international community to make it clear to Nicaragua that these attacks on independent civil society, on freedom of expression and on freedom of religion or belief are unacceptable. CSW stands in solidarity with Bishop Alvarez and all of those with him, and laud the courageous stance for justice and truth that they have maintained even during the difficulty and uncertainty of the past ten days.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The only Protestant Evangelical television station in Nicaragua was forcibly closed in November 2021.

2. Those blockaded in the Curia with Bishop Alvarez are:

• Vicar General Óscar Escoto
• Father Ramiro Tijerino
• Father Sadiel Eugarrios
• Father Raúl González
• Father José Luis Díaz
• Darvin Leiva (seminarian)
• Melkin Sequeira (seminarian)
• Sujin Membreño (chorist)
• Henry Corvera (chorist)
• Flavio Castro (cameraman)
• Sergio Cárdenas (cameraman)