On Monday, August 25, Mauricio Alonso Petri, a 64-year-old opposition figure who was arrested on July 17 along with his wife and son in the department of Carazo, died in the custody of the dictatorship. His wife was released, and his son remains missing.
Mauricio Alonso Petri remained missing until his family was notified that his body should be collected from the Institute of Forensic Medicine. His relatives were warned that a private wake with a closed casket would be held under police surveillance.
On Friday, August 29, lawyer Carlos Cárdenas Zepeda was declared dead without any official explanation after missing for 15 days. His family is currently under surveillance by the National Police.
Carlos Cárdenas Zepeda worked for the Comptroller General’s Office until 2016. In 2018, amid protests against the dictatorship, he was summoned by the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference (CEN) to participate in the National Dialogue.
Cárdenas Zepeda had already been a political prisoner in 2018 when paramilitaries captured him at his home. Two weeks before his death, he was arrested amid a wave of kidnappings carried out by the National Police against opposition figures.
In both cases, the police ordered a speedy burial. The cause of their deaths is unknown, but both were in the custody of state agents, which constitutes a serious crime and a flagrant violation of human rights.
Since the beginning of the 2018 crisis, six political prisoners have died in the custody of the dictatorship.
The Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua records between 52 and 54 people imprisoned for political reasons. Of these, 33 have been sentenced, and 19 remain unconvicted, some of whom are subject to forced disappearance.
The number of political opponents detained is likely higher because many families do not report their actions publicly for fear of reprisals.
