Truth, Justice and Peace Commission exposes false data of the Inter American Commission for Human Rights

We welcome the continued efforts of the National Dialogue for Peace and Understanding, which made important announcements last Friday, March 22, on the agenda items and the roadmap they have agreed for future talks.

The members of the national Dialogue have committed to a sufficient and satisfactory approach for the parties with regard to:

•     Strengthen democracy and electoral reforms for the organization of electoral processes.
•     Strengthen citizens' rights and guarantees.
•     The release, within period no greater than 90 days, in accordance with the country's legal system, of all persons imprisoned and detained in the context of the events that occurred following April 18, 2018.
•     Truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition.
•     Mechanisms for implementing the agreements.
•     Once the agreements have been reached at the National Dialogue, the parties will seek international support for their implementation. In due course, and by mutual agreement between the parties, the international community will be called upon to suspend sanctions so as to facilitate Nicaragua's right to human, economic and social development on behalf of  the most vulnerable sectors of the population.

We Nicaraguans need a peaceful and enduring solution. We are certain that, however complicated it may seem for both parties, fulfilling this agenda is the desired response in the interests of peace, harmony, mutual understanding and tolerance.

Violence begets more violence and it is praiseworthy that we Nicaraguans have decided to reach mutual understanding at the negotiating table, through frank dialogue, presenting our criteria and petitions with valid, legal and well-founded arguments based on truth.

It is for this last reason that we also express our continued concern about supposed lists of prisoners circulating through social networks without any verification which have been taken up by some media and human rights organizations.

We are referring to appearance of a list presumably released by the Committee for the Release of "Political Prisoners" that counts 802 prisoners throughout the country. From that list we have identified 146 people who have already been released.

On the other hand, there is the list of 647 detained persons given by the IACHR to the Government of the Republic. According to our preliminary investigations, we have found that there are currently 261 detainees. Of the remaining 386 persons, 152 have been released, 61 are not linked to the conflict; 54 have no complete personal information, which makes it impossible to verify their real status; 112 are not in any penitentiary or police establishment and 7 names are duplicated.

Nevertheless, this Commission will continue to investigate, analyze and clarify the facts in accordance with its legal mandate.