CSW condemns exile of prominent bishop to Guatemala

CSW has condemned the forced exile of Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, President of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nicaragua, to Guatemala on 13 November after he complained during Sunday Mass about the placement of loudspeakers outside the church by government officials, disrupting religious services in Jinotega Diocese, and called Mayor Leónidas Centeno Rivera sacrilegious.

CSW sources say that authorities in municipalities across Nicaragua regularly play loud music outside parishes during Sunday Mass and on holy days such as Ash Wednesday, in an attempt to disrupt church activities.

Bishop Herrera Gutiérrez was arrested the day after the complaint was made, on 11 November, following a meeting with the Bishops’ Conference of Nicaragua. After his arrest, the Facebook profile of the Jinotega Diocese was deleted.

Religious leaders in Nicaragua continue to face widespread and daily hostility. In November CSW learned that three Roman Catholic priests, who requested to remain anonymous for security reasons, were placed under precautionary measures requiring that they inform the municipal police if they plan to travel outside of their parishes in different parts of the country. They must also periodically send photographs to mayoral offices as part of a report on their activities.

Some Protestant pastors have also reported being threatened in recent months and have received orders from mayors’ offices not to meet in their places of worship, some of which were under construction and had to stop the work. A small number of Protestant churches in rural parts of the country have been arbitrarily forced to close.

CSW’s Director of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘CSW condemns the forced exile of yet another prominent bishop from Nicaragua. Much like his colleagues BishopsRolando Álvarez Lagos, Isidro del Carmen Mora Ortega and Silvio José Báez, Bishop Herrera Gutiérrez has been punished for speaking out against a regime that continues to do all it can to eliminate independent voices in the country and is now subjecting religious communities to harassment. We call on the government of Nicaragua to reverse this decision and allow Bishop Herrera Gutiérrez to return to the country, along with all others who have been forcibly exiled and stripped of their citizenship in recent years, and to allow religious groups to practice their faith, including the peaceful celebration of religious services, without interference. We urge the international community to hold President Daniel Ortega and his regime to account for their ongoing, systematic and egregious violation of fundamental human rights.’