UNREST AND VIOLENCE IN NICARAGUA

That this House is very concerned by continuing violence in Nicaragua which has claimed the lives of over 300 people, further to on-going protests and unrest which began in April 2018 against alleged state land grabs, now-abandoned reforms to the national social security system proposed by the Government of President Daniel Ortega, and the latter's increasingly authoritarian rule; notes that an Amnesty International report in May 2018 determined that the Government was practicing a shoot to kill policy with protesters, causing an alarming number of deaths; further notes the comments by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, that the violence and repression seen in Nicaragua since April are products of the systematic erosion of human rights over the years, and highlight the overall fragility of institutions and the rule of law; urges all sides, including Nicaraguan Government security forces, to respect the right to peaceful protest and commit to a non-violent resolution of the political crisis; and calls on the Government to raise these matters with its Nicaraguan counterparts as a matter of urgency, including the need to investigate all deaths in an independent manner and prosecute the alleged perpetrators, to support mediation efforts, and to consider further action if the violence continues.