The Christian Church in Nicaragua is being targeted by police in an ongoing crackdown on religious leaders, with eleven Roman Catholic leaders detained in the latest wave of arrests.
The arrests follow the earlier detention of Deacon Ervin Aguirre, who was reported to be arrested on 2 August only to be released the following day, and 79-year-old priest Frutos Constantino Valle Salmerón, arrested in the Diocese of Estelí in Managua while preparing for the ordination of three deacons on 26 July.
The police reportedly told Father Frutos he had not obtained permission for the ceremony, before taking the priest, who suffers from hypertension and diabetes to the National Inter-Diocesan Seminary of Our Lady of Fátima, located in Managua. During his journey in the police car, Father Frutos became seriously ill and remains under house address.
The National Inter-Diocesan Seminary had also been the destination of two senior church officials from the Diocese of Matagalpa, arbitrarily detained on 1 August. Monsignor Ulises Vega, administrator of the San Ramón parishes was picked up alongside Monsignor Edgard Sacasa, administrator of the San Isidro parish, who succeeded the famous priest Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, as the leader of the Diocese of Matagalpa, when he was forced into exile.
The arrests continued over 2 and 3 August, with the police mainly detaining priests of the Diocese of Matagalpa. They were all forced into police patrol vehicles before being placed under house arrest.
In a 2 August post to social media network X, formerly Twitter, lawyer and human rights defender Martha Patricia Molina wrote: "The clergy of Matagalpa and Estelí wake up in anxiety. Currently, the Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish in Sébaco is surrounded by riot police. The parish fears that their priests will be kidnapped."
Mervyn Thomas, founder of CSW, a human rights organisation specialising in freedom of religion or belief globally, condemned the arrests as an attack on religious liberty.
"The continued detention and arrests of religious leaders by the Nicaraguan government are both unwarranted and unconscionable," he said. "CSW calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all religious leaders and political prisoners who have been arbitrarily detained and imprisoned in recent months.
"We urge the international community to emphasise to the Nicaraguan government that the ongoing crackdown on independent civil society, the relentless targeting of religious leaders and the continual violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief are unacceptable. More must be done to hold President Ortega, his wife and their regime to account for the deteriorating situation of human rights in the country."
