B9-0383/2022

 

Plenary sitting

 

<NoDocSe>B9‑0383/2022</NoDocSe>

<Date>{12/09/2022}12.9.2022</Date>

<TitreType>MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION</TitreType>

<TitreSuite>with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law</TitreSuite>

<TitreRecueil>pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure</TitreRecueil>

<Titre>on Nicaragua, in particular the arrest of the bishop Rolando Álvarez</Titre>

<DocRef>(2022/2827(RSP))</DocRef>

<RepeatBlock-By><Depute>Željana Zovko, Leopoldo López Gil, Gabriel Mato, Gheorghe Falcă, Rasa Juknevičienė, Tomáš Zdechovský, David McAllister, Magdalena Adamowicz, Sara Skyttedal, Antonio López‑Istúriz White, Peter Pollák, György Hölvényi, José Manuel Fernandes, Adam Jarubas, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Michaela Šojdrová, Vangelis Meimarakis, Paulo Rangel, Christian Sagartz, Krzysztof Hetman, Inese Vaidere, Sandra Kalniete, Seán Kelly, Benoît Lutgen, Francisco José Millán Mon, Vladimír Bilčík, Stelios Kympouropoulos, Loránt Vincze, Miriam Lexmann, Andrius Kubilius, Michael Gahler, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, Ivan Štefanec, Jiří Pospíšil, Stanislav Polčák, Janina Ochojska, Loucas Fourlas, Romana Tomc, Andrey Kovatchev, Traian Băsescu</Depute>

<Commission>{PPE}on behalf of the PPE Group</Commission>

</RepeatBlock-By>

B9‑0383/2022

European Parliament resolution on Nicaragua, in particular the arrest of the bishop Rolando Álvarez

(2022/2827(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its previous resolutions, in particular that of 9 June 2022 on the instrumentalisation of justice as a repressive tool in Nicaragua,

–  having regard to the UN Universal Declaration of Human rights (art 18), the Charter of Fundamental rights of the European Union (art. 10) and the American Convention of human rights (art. 12),

–  having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules),

–  having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

 

1. whereas on 19 August 2022, the Bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez was arbitrarily arrested and placed under house arrest by the Nicaraguan regime after a two-weeks stand-of, along with five priests, two seminarians and one cameraman, which are imprisoned in El Chipote Prison;
2. whereas five other priests from the same dioceses of Matagalpa, Uriel Vallejos, Vicente Martinez, Sebastian Lopez, Mangel Hernandez and Dani Garcia, went into exile as a result of the arrest of Bishop Alvarez; 
3. whereas the Nicaraguan dictatorship has instituted a systematic and recurrent state policy against the Catholic Church in the country, with acts of repression that have been on the rise as exemplified by the expulsion of Monsignor Waldemar Stanislaw in March 2022,  the detention of Padre Manuel Salvador Garcia in June 2022, the criminalisation the Order of St Teresa of Calcutta in July 2022 and the ban on religious processions scheduled for 13 and 14 August;
4. whereas on 1st September 2022, the Nicaraguan authorities sentenced monsignor Leonardo José Urbina Rodríguez to 30 years of prison; whereas other examples are the closure of at least 11 Catholic media outlets which are the latest civil society organisation to be closed forcibly;

1. Condemns in the strongest possible terms the continuous deterioration of the situation in Nicaragua and the escalation in the repression against the Catholic Church, opposition figures, civil society, human rights defenders, journalists and other actors;
2. Deplores the fact that the another 100 NGOs were closed down on 7 September 2022, bringing the total of closed NGOs in Nicaragua to 1850 this year;
3. Condemns the abusive detention, the lack of trial guarantees and the illegal convictions of political prisoners that have been taking place in Nicaragua; urges the Nicaraguan authorities to restore guarantees for the full exercise of the civil and political rights of all Nicaraguans, cease the persecution of the democratic opposition, the press and civil society, immediately and unconditionally release those detained since April 2018, annul the legal proceedings against them and allow the safe return of all refugees and exiles to their homes;
4. Condemns the cancellation of the opposition political parties and the lack of freedom to organise and participate in the Municipal Elections of 6 November 2022.
5. Urges the Nicaraguan Government to immediately end the repression and restore full respect for all human rights, including freedom of expression, religion and belief; calls for the immediate an unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained, among others Bishop Rolando Alvarez;
6. Reiterates its call on the EU to continue supporting civil society organisations, human rights defenders and relatives of political prisoners both in Nicaragua and in exile, including priests Uriel Vallejos, Vicente Martinez, Sebastian Lopez, Mangel Hernandez and Dani Garcia, among others;
7. Recalls that in the light of the Association Agreement between the EU and Central America, Nicaragua must respect and consolidate the principles of the rule of law, democracy and human rights; reiterates its demand that, in the light of the current circumstances, the democratic clause of the Association Agreement be triggered;
8. Calls on the Council and the Member States to swiftly expand the list of individuals and entities to be sanctioned, including the President of Nicaragua and his inner circle,
9. Reiterates its call for the immediate extradition of Alessio Casimirri to Italy;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, the Central American Parliament, the Lima Group, the Vatican and the Government and Parliament of the Republic of Nicaragua;