Washington D.C., October 12, 2022.– On July 9, 2022, in an unacceptable act, the Government of Nicaragua denied entry into the country to Nicaraguan citizen and expert of the UN Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Anexa Alfred Cunningham. The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) condemns this attack on Mrs. Alfred for her work as a human rights defender, which is also an attack on the EMRIP, the United Nations and other independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Mrs. Alfred Cunningham is a Miskitu indigenous woman, lawyer and expert in Indigenous Law and Policy, who has served as an advisor to Territorial Governments and Indigenous Communal Governments in Nicaragua. Among others, Mrs. Alfred has contributed to the process of demarcation and titling of indigenous and Afro-descendant territories on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, and has promoted different legislative reforms related to the rights of indigenous peoples in Nicaraguan legislation.

In April of this year, the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed her as a member of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for Central and South America, whose mandate is to provide expert assistance to Member States in achieving the objectives contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to promote concrete measures that States, indigenous peoples, civil society, international organizations, national human rights institutions and other entities can adopt to achieve their fulfillment.

In July, the expert traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to carry out her first official mission to the fifteenth session of the EMRIP. At the end of her tour, the airline did not allow her to board the plane to Nicaragua, informing her that the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo did not authorize her entry into the country. The regime’s decision, among other things, violates Article VI, Section 22 of the UN Framework Convention on Privileges and Immunities, which grants the experts appointed by the HRC “privileges and immunities necessary for the independent exercise of their functions, during the period of their missions, including the time required for travel in connection therewith.”

Faced with this serious situation, on September 28, the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas, expressed that he has requested “on numerous occasions clarifications on the situation, as well as the cooperation of the Government of Nicaragua to rectify the matter“. However, he has not received any response, “nor guarantees from the Government that Mrs. Cunningham could return to Nicaragua”. This indicates an “act of retaliation“, Villegas assured. 

For her part, in an interview with Race and Equality, Mrs. Alfred Cunningham expressed that the prohibition to return to her country is part of a series of actions the Nicaraguan government has taken to repress and punish dissident voices. “We have seen it with journalists, human rights defenders, political opponents, religious leaders, non-governmental organizations… and indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples are not exempt from this.” 

She also regretted that the regime prevents her from fulfilling its mandate in Nicaragua, since “the EMRIP would have the technical and specialized capacity to advise the State to be able to comply with the phase of the sanitation process, understanding that this is a right that is recognized in the Political Constitution of Nicaragua and in all the human rights instruments on Indigenous Peoples to which Nicaragua is a party“.

“We know that it is a process that has not been complied with and has generated a series of irregularities that affect the individual and collective rights of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua,” she explained to Race and Equality.

Finally, Alfred called on the Nicaraguan government to respond to the communications sent by the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Secretariat regarding her case, as well as to rectify its decision and open the channels of communication with the international community and national sectors. 

“I believe that there is still time to react and rectify this serious decision…Isolation is not the solution to get out of this socio-political, economic and human rights crisis that the Nicaraguan people are experiencing. It is necessary to open a channel of communication, only in this way we will be able to get out of this crisis“, she concluded.

Statement

Race and Equality expresses its deep solidarity with Mrs. Anexa Alfred Cunningham and her family. 

We condemn this grave and unprecedented attack on a United Nations Expert, which violates the diplomatic privileges and immunities that Nicaragua and other Member States have pledged to respect.

We recall that this is a direct violation of Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country“, which also entails multiple violations of other rights such as: the right to an adequate standard of living, freedom of movement, the rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants, among others.

We make an urgent call to the international community -including the Universal System and the Inter-American Human Rights System- to condemn Nicaragua’s actions and urge the State to rectify its decision and ensure conditions for the safe return of Mrs. Alfred and her family; and to request investigations, trials and sanctions for all those responsible, as well as reparations for all the violations and abuses suffered.

We continue to demand that the State of Nicaragua comply with its international human rights obligations and re-establish meaningful cooperation with the international community. The people of Nicaragua need investigations to ensure justice, reparations and non-repetition of the human rights violations and abuses that continue to be committed in the country. 

The investigation and accountability of these violations, which – as mentioned by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) of the IACHR – should be considered crimes against humanity, are indispensable requirements to combat impunity and overcome the serious human rights crisis. 

We hope that the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua, mandated by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 49/3, will continue this important work.