Mothers of April Association (AMA)

Activity
The right to truth, justice and reparations.

On Monday, April 19, a group of women defenders belonging to the Mothers of April Association (AMA) in Masaya and Carazo  were surrounded and harassed by police agents  at a bus stop outside the Central American University (UCA). The agents decommissioned their commemorative books published to demand truth, justice and reparations for the murders of their children during the social uprising of April 18, 2018. The police searched the mothers’ bags, spoke to them aggressively, threatened to detain them, and told them that they had their addresses. 

This happened in the context of the commemoration of the third anniversary of the civic protests in Nicaragua, During this time we have observed a rise in the number and seriousness of the attacks against women human rights defenders as a strategy to repress any expression whatsoever of dissidence and to stymie the right to protest in the country.  Between April 14th and 17th alone, at least 75 women defenders and their families were subjected to harassment, prevented from leaving their homes, and systematically hounded while riding in their cars.

The Mothers of April Association is one of the outstanding entities that emerged in the context of the social uprising of April 2018.  At that time, mothers and family members of people assassinated during protests came together to demand justice, truth and reparations for offenses mainly committed by police and paramilitary forces close  to the government.  According to the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEL), commissioned by the IACHR, these offenses constitute crimes against humanity.  

We of IM-Defensoras express our repudiation against this police attack that shows a total lack of respect for the memory and dignity of the victims who were assassinated by the Nicaraguan government in April of 2018, and for their mothers, who three years later continue demanding justice, truth and reparations.  

We recognize the crucial work of the Mothers of April Association in its search for truth, justice and reparations. Three years after April 2018, we send a warm embrace to all members and join them in raising their just, honorable demands.  

We reiterate our call on the international community to stay vigilant regarding the situation in Nicaragua and to stand in solidarity with the women human rights defenders and organizations. In a situation of repression, political persecution, harassment, threats and hate speech, they continue to raise their voices in defense of the human rights of the Nicaraguan people.