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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Miskito Indians Accuse Sandinistas of Crimes Against Humanity |
| 2005-08-18 |
| Miskito Indian leaders on Thursday asked the independent Permanent Human Rights Commission to probe crimes against humanity they allege were committed against their people under Nicaragua's Sandinista government of the 1980s. The leaders said at a news conference that they also would demand that government prosecutors take legal action against those who allegedly killed at least 150 of their people, burned houses, destroyed crops and slaughtered livestock. The complaints stem from clashes between the Sandinistas - who were trying to create a new, leftist society throughout Nicaragua after overthrowing dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979 - and the English-speaking Indian peoples of the Caribbean coast who were trying to establish greater autonomy from central control at the same time. Disagreements escalated to armed clashes and forced relocation of thousands of Miskitos. Sandinista responses grew heavier as some Indians joined the U.S.-backed rebellion against the leftist government. Former Sandinista Foreign Minister Tomas Borge said the complaint had been inspired by the U.S. government as a way to denigrate the Sandinista party ahead of the 2006 presidential election. "Otherwise, why now after more than 20 years?" he said when contacted by telephone. The Miskito leaders denied political motivation and complained in a prepared statement that "no government to this point has decided to investigate these events and the local and international human rights groups have ignored us." Borge said both sides had committed abuses and said he had punished Sandinista troops who committed them. One of those who filed the complaint, Mario Flores, said five of his relatives had been killed by the army around Christmas 1982. "Our demand is against the Nicaraguan army for the crime of genocide, so that justice is done and so that the relatives of the victims are compensated," the Miskito statement said. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |