On 15 May 2022 Protestant Christian Pastor Efr\u00e9n Antonio\u202fV\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez was beaten and detained as he was leaving the funeral home where he worked in San Rafael del Sur, a town and municipality 50km south-west of the Nicaraguan capital Managua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was not told on what charges he was being arrested, and his family were kept unaware of his whereabouts for three days. He was held at the San Rafael del Sur National Police Station for over two weeks, and then transferred to the notorious Jorge Navarro National Penitentiary System known as \u2018La Modelo\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While he was in detention the authorities did not provide Pastor V\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez, who is diabetic and hypertensive, with his required daily insulin, which ultimately proved life-threatening and resulted in him being sent to a clinic for urgent medical treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
On 21 September 2022, after he had already spent more than four months in detention, Pastor V\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez was sentenced by a court in Managua to 23 years in prison. He was unjustly found guilty of the horrific crime of raping a young man with an intellectual disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Court of Appeal later confirmed the judgment on 21 April 2023, refusing to consider any evidence that supported the pastor\u2019s innocence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nBut Pastor V\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez committed no such crime.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
He was targeted, in reality, because of his influence. Since the 1990s Pastor V\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez has worked cross-denominationally with over 100 different churches and was frequently sought out by Protestant Christian groups to help organise large scale public events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also has a history of criticising President Daniel Ortega and the actions of his government. During the 2018 demonstrations, he published statements on social media condemning the use of violence against protestors, and was swiftly visited by a police officer who threatened him. A year later, he was severely beaten for verbally confronting police officers who routinely surrounded his home, resulting in several fractures to his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nicaraguan government does not tolerate dissenting voices. For religious leaders like Pastor V\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez, preaching about or praying for unity or justice during church services is viewed as criticising the government and therefore deemed a criminal offence, and the authorities will even go as far as to accuse individuals of egregious crimes to ensure their voices remain unheard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastor V\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez\u2019s case is not isolated. The Nicaraguan government has previously used fictitious sexual assault cases to target religious leaders who have been critical of its actions. In May 2022, Bishop Jos\u00e9 Leonardo Urbina Rodr\u00edguez was sentenced to 30 years in prison on similar charges, though he was ultimately released and sent into forced exile in October 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIn taking such an extreme approach, the authorities hope to dissuade human rights groups from advocating on their behalf, particularly as there is no direct link to political imprisonment.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Pastor V\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez was initially treated as a common prisoner. However, in July 2024, he was transferred to a maximum-security cell in \u2018Gallery 300\u2019 of La Modelo Prison, in what amounts to a de facto recognition of his status as a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was initially held in solitary confinement, but has since been moved to a small, hot cell that he shares with two other men, with only a hole in the ground to be used for physiological needs. Since August 2024, he has been provided with just one small container of water daily. He has also been deprived of natural light and fresh air as he is rarely permitted to go outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pastor is regularly subjected to verbal abuse from the prison director, and his Bible and glasses have been confiscated. Prison officials have refused to pass on some of the packages of food and basic supplies, including soap, insulin and medicine for hypertension, blood circulation and other health issues, brought by his relatives to the prison every 15 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe arbitrary detention of religious leaders and others on trumped up charges is just one of many ways the Nicaraguan government has sought to silence dissenting voices<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Over the past year, the government has forcibly expelled many of those deemed critical of the government, stripping them of their Nicaraguan citizenship. According to the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on the country<\/a>, over 400 Nicaraguans have been arbitrarily denationalised. Many religious leaders and adherents who were political prisoners were given the choice of remaining in prison or going into immediate forced exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government has also continued to forcibly cancel the legal status of civil society organisations. Since 2018, over 5,500 organisations, including over 1,300 of a religious nature<\/a>, have arbitrarily lost their legal status. The practice has had a devastating impact on both domestic and international organisations operating in the country. For example, the historic First Baptist Church of Managua had its status cancelled despite operating schools, a seminary, a hospital and a radio station. The government regards such efforts to improve local communities as a threat to their authority and control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is for similar reasons that most religious activities that take place outside of churches or other religious buildings are prohibited by the government, including traditional Roman Catholic processions and the Day of the Bible celebrations. There have also been instances of government monitoring to report on the content of sermons and prayers, while religious groups that publicly support the government have received no such restrictions on their activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government is similarly hostile to criticism of its human rights record from those outside the country. On 27 February Nicaragua announced its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, just one day after a group of UN experts published a report which found that the Ortega-Murillo regime has \u2018systematically carried out serious human rights violations\u2019, some of which amount to crimes against humanity, in its mission to \u2018entrench absolute control\u2019 in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet this must not deter the international community from seeking accountability for Nicaragua\u2019s widespread repression of independent voices. The international community must stand alongside individuals like Pastor V\u00edlchez L\u00f3pez, raising their cases and calling for their immediate release at every opportunity, and seeking creative ways to support and strengthen those working to defend and uphold justice, democracy and human rights in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By CSW\u2019s Advocacy Intern Anna Shannon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Featured Image Credit: La Prensa Nicaragua<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nClick here to read CSW\u2019s latest report on Nicaragua<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n