Nicaragua's
foreign minister has accused the continent's human rights body of
undermining its claimed neutrality and violating the regional bloc's
charter with a “biased and politicised” report on months of
violent anti-government protests.
Minister
for International Policy and Affairs Siddharta Marin's office
denounced the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) final report in a statement late on Saturday night. It said the
commission, a wing of the Washington DC-based Organisation of
American States (OAS), had joined a “political and media campaign
of lies, misrepresentation, epithets and stigmatization” against
Daniel Ortega's Sandinista government.
The
statement accused the IACHR of ignoring documentary evidence
presented by the government in favour of “audio-visual information
and testimonies edited and manipulated by the perpetrators” of the
“attempted coup.”
The
ministry said the commission “used biased criteria” and avoided
passing judgement on “acts of violence and crimes perpetrated by
'peaceful' proponents.”
It
insisted protesters had “committed terrorist acts, they burned
human beings alive, they tortured and committed abuses against
government supporters, kidnapped hundreds of Central American truck
drivers along with the civilian population, who were unable to leave
their homes and work freely.”
And
the statement went further, alleging the IACHR's preliminary report
earlier this year “spread the lies of the authors, actors and
executors of the Coup d’état attempt” and justified the riots to
the “international community.”
Riots
broke out in April over changes to the social security system
introduced to stave off a deficit. The government had rejected a
package of “reforms” proposed by an International Monetary Fund
mission in February in favour of an alternative programme backed by
trade unions – but not by business leaders.
On
a visit to London at the end of May, Mr Marin expressed great
optimism over the impending IACHR mission and talks with the
opposition, calling it a “a historic opportunity to strengthen our
democracy.” He also played down comparisons with last year's four
months of regime-change riots in ally Venezuela, which left at
least 124 people dead.
But
roadblocks and university occupations, while on June 7 OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro met leaders of the anti-government students
movement and denounced state “repression.”