The International Community must act to protect the Nicaraguan opponents exiled in Costa Rica
Geneva, June 23.The 46/2 Collective denounces to the international community the assassination of retired Nicaraguan Army Major Roberto Samcam Ruíz, which occurred on June 19 in his home in San José, Costa Rica.
Samcam Ruíz was a strong voice of denunciation against the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship, he denounced the Nicaraguan army and pointed it out as a participant in the repression and extrajudicial executions committed since 2018. He had also denounced an espionage network against opponents refugees in Costa Rica.
The retired major was one of the 94 Nicaraguans denationalized in February 2023 by the dictatorship and since July 11, 2018 was a refugee in Costa Rica due to the persecution and criminalization of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. He obtained Spanish nationality on July 26, 2023.
The murder of the former retired military officer is not the first attack against opponents on Costa Rican soil. In 2023, oppositionist Joao Maldonado and his wife were shot at with the clear intention of killing them. Maldonado had already suffered another attack in 2021, also in San José, Costa Rica. In 2022, the Nicaraguan opponent Rodolfo Rojas was found dead in Honduras, who, according to relatives, had been taken to that country under false pretenses from Costa Rica, where he had gone into exile. To the list is added the murder of another refugee, Jaime Luis Ortega, in 2024, which occurred in Upala, a canton on the border with Nicaragua. Following these events, Roberto Samcam had spoken to the press pointing out the direct involvement of the Ortega Murillo regime and indicating that he knew that his life was at risk.
While investigations into the murder of Samcam are ongoing, the circumstances of the event and the profile of the victim arouse strong suspicions about the possibility of a political crime, with possible transnational links. This murder occurs in a context in which different human rights organizations have been documenting a sustained pattern of surveillance, threats, harassment and acts of intimidation directed against Nicaraguan exiles in the region, especially in Costa Rica.
We consider that this crime should be analyzed and investigated as it is part of a broader strategy of transnational repression promoted by the Nicaraguan regime to persecute and silence dissent outside its borders, in open violation of the human rights of refugees and exiles. This transnational repression has been documented by the Group of Experts on Human Rights in Nicaragua (GHREN), who have pointed out that “The Government’s repressive actions transcend the country’s borders and affect people who oppose or are perceived as such abroad. The Government has also continued to target family members of opponents inside Nicaragua, including children, by simple association, as a way to punish opponents and/or deter them from speaking out wherever they are.”
In light of the gravity of this crime and the sustained pattern of transnational repression against exiled Nicaraguans, we urgently call on the international community to demand that the State of Nicaragua immediately cease all forms of persecution, surveillance and violence against dissidents in exile. We also request that the international community strengthen political, technical and financial support for the protection mechanisms for human rights defenders in exile. We also urge the establishment of bilateral or multilateral channels of communication with the host countries of Nicaraguans, to assess the security situation and articulate preventive responses to possible acts of transnational persecution. Finally, we call on international human rights bodies to urgently follow up on these cases as part of a systematic pattern of cross-border repression, and to ensure justice and truth for the victims.
Additional Information
The 46/2 Collective is a coalition of 19 international, regional and Nicaraguan human rights organizations that regularly reports to the international community on the lack of action by the Nicaraguan regime to address its international human rights obligations. Listed below are the member organizations of the Collective that have decided to make public their adherence to this pronouncement:
- Colectivo Nicaragua Nunca Más
- Centro por el Derecho y la Justicia Internacional - CEJIL
- Federación Internacional por los Derechos Humanos - FIDH
- International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights
- International Service for Human Rights - ISHR
- Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres - MAM
- World Organization Against Torture - OMCT
- Peace Brigades International - PBI
- International Network for Human Rights Europe - RIDHE
- Unidad de Defensa Jurídica, Registro y Memoria - UDJUDR
- Urnas Abiertas
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