Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1997 - Nicaragua, 1 January 1997, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a9fa8.html [accessed 17 May 2023]
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The Inter-American Court of Human Rights held hearings in the case of Jean Paul Genie Lacayo, allegedly killed by members of the military in 1990. Prison conditions frequently amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. At least 30 people were killed in circumstances suggesting that they may have been victims of deliberate and arbitrary killings by armed political groups. General elections were held in October. Arnoldo Alemán, the Alianza Liberal (Liberal Alliance) candidate, was elected President in the first round of voting. In January, the creation of the office of the Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Procurator) was reported in the official newspaper, the Gazette. In December, Miriam Argüello, a former member of parliament, was elected as Procurator and Carlos Gallo as Deputy Procurator. There were reports of renewed violence and abuses in the area most afflicted by conflict in the 1980s, a stretch of land in the middle of the country. In September, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held hearings in the case of 17-year-old Jean Paul Genie Lacayo, who was allegedly killed by escorts of General Humberto Ortega, the then head of the army, in 1990 (see Amnesty International Reports 1993 to 1996). The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) called six witnesses to give testimony, and oral statements were heard from both the IACHR and the Government of Nicaragua. Two key witnesses retired General Humberto Ortega and General Joaquín Cuadra did not attend the session, despite having been summoned. The IACHR requested that they be summoned again. The Court heard statements on the existing evidence and decided that, if necessary, additional hearings could take place if the absent witnesses appeared before the Court at a later date. In its statement, the IACHR requested, inter alia, that the Court find that Nicaragua had violated Jean Paul Genie Lacayo's right to life, and that the Nicaraguan Government should pay compensation and continue to investigate the case until those responsible for his death were brought to justice. The government's representative questioned the Court's jurisdiction in the case on the basis that domestic remedies had not been exhausted, and argued that due process had been respected. The decision of the Court had not been given by the end of the year. Conditions in prisons and police cells frequently amounted to cruel and degrading treatment. There was severe overcrowding; some institutions held three times the number of prisoners they had been designed for. Prisoners slept on the floor without bedding, sanitary facilities or drinking water. There was no budgetary provision for health care, and contagious diseases spread quickly among the prison population. Conditions fell short of international standards, including the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Armed opposition groups of recontras former members of the Nicaraguan Resistance or contra forces who fought against the former Sandinista government were believed to be responsible for the murder of at least 30 people, and the kidnapping and torture, including rape, of peasants, women, children and sympathizers of groups across the political spectrum. For example, in January it was reported that members of an armed group tied up three women and seven children inside their hut in El Guayabo, Waslala, Department of Matagalpa, and set fire to it, killing them all. According to reports, the women had refused to reveal the whereabouts of their older sons, as they feared the group would kill them for refusing to join it. The women's husbands had also been killed by the same group. Leaders and members of popular organizations were also targeted. In August, Amado Leiva Flores, President of the Cooperativa Agrícola Emir Cabezas Lacayo, Peasants' Cooperative Emir Cabezas Lacayo, and José Granados Cruz, a member of the cooperative, were shot dead in Zinica, Waslala. The perpetrators, according to witnesses, were members of the Pablo Negro band, a group of recontras. There was no reply during the year to Amnesty International's December 1995 letter to President Violetta Barrios de Chamorro seeking information about incidents in Portezuelo and Rubenia (Managua) in which two demonstrators were killed and several detained and beaten, and expressing concern about reported inadequacies in the investigation into the killing of 13 people in La Marañosa (see Amnesty International Report 1996). An Amnesty International observer attended the Inter-American Court on Human Rights hearing of the case of Jean Paul Genie Lacayo in September.
