CPDH HUMAN RIGHTS NGO REVIEWS EFFORTS TO HOLD FSLN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 000119

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2016
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KDEM KCRM NU
SUBJECT: CPDH HUMAN RIGHTS NGO REVIEWS EFFORTS TO HOLD FSLN
ACCOUNTABLE FOR PAST AND PRESENT ABUSES OF POWER

REF: A. 05 MANAGUA 1117


B. 05 MANAGUA 2426

C. 05 MANAGUA 2646

D. 05 MANAGUA 2998

Classified By: AMBASSADOR PAUL TRIVELLI. REASONS 1.4 (B,D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Leaders of the Nicaraguan Permanent Human
Rights Commission (CPDH),a prominent human rights NGO, have
informed the Ambassador that they are moving forward with two
projects to hold Sandinista (FSLN) leaders accountable for
abuses of power committed in the 1980s. They are also
investigating the FSLN cover-up of a recent fatal car
accident in which Daniel Ortega's son was reportedly driving
when two pedestrians were killed. The CPDH is concerned by
the possibility of a combined Daniel Ortega-Herty Lewites
victory in the November national elections and is seeking
international funding for training seminars it hopes to hold
for official election observers from the "democratic" parties
in an effort to block FSLN attempts to steal the vote. END
SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) In a meeting with the Ambassador on January 19,
leaders of the CPDH reaffirmed their commitment to holding
the Sandinistas accountable for past and present abuses of
the rights of Nicaraguan citizens. CPDH President Nicholas
Bolanos (President Bolanos' elder brother),Secretary Raymond
Genie, and Executive Director Marcos Carmona called on the
Ambassador to discuss ongoing and new CPDH projects. They
reported that two projects slated to receive USG funding are
already underway. These projects involve the computerization
and publication of the organization's archives of human
rights abuses, most of which date from the 1980s era of
Sandinista rule, and the investigation of large scale FSLN
rights abuses on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast during the 1980s
(reftels). (NOTE: Post understands that DRL has budgeted
funds to support both projects, while USAID is funding the
initial stages of the second effort. USAID Managua has
already signed a contract with the CPDH and expects that the
first disbursement of funding will be made during the week of
January 23-27, enabling the CPDH to continue and expand field
work documenting 1980s abuses on the Atlantic coast in
February. END NOTE)


3. (SBU) Given the power and influence of the FSLN, the CPDH
leaders said that they will need strong USG and international
support if their efforts are to succeed. They asked for USG
assistance in finding international NGO partners to help them
promote the Atlantic coast case once they have done the
domestic work of gathering the information for the
international complaint with the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR). They also anticipate threats and
pressure from the FSLN once the Atlantic coast investigation
gets underway in the field and gains publicity.


4. (C) The CPDH officials added that they have received a
complaint from one of the two families that recently lost
their sons in a Managua traffic accident. Rafael Ortega, son
of FSLN caudillo Daniel Ortega, was reportedly in the
driver's seat when the incident occurred. Witnesses of the
accident reported that Rafael Ortega was driving the car that
hit the two young men, but the FSLN pulled a switch at the
scene of the accident, claiming that another driver was
behind the wheel of the FSLN-owned vehicle that struck and
killed the two pedestrians. So powerful is the fear of
Daniel Ortega and the FSLN leadership that neither the police
nor the media dare to state openly what really happened, even
though the word on the street is that Ortega's son is the
culprit. If either of the families of the victims press the
issue and the CPDH champions their case, the wrath of the
FSLN is likely to fall on the organization.


5. (SBU) The CPDH leaders also presented the Ambassador with
a project proposal soliciting the aid of international donors
for the organization's efforts to train official party
electoral observers ("fiscales") for the November national
elections. In the absence of committed and well-trained
observers from other parties, the FSLN is skilled and
experienced at manipulating the results in individual polling
centers, as it demonstrated once again in the November 2004
municipal elections. The CPDH is already slated to receive
100,000 USD from the Government of Taiwan for this effort and
will be seeking additional support from other members of the
international donor community in Managua. The Ambassador
suggested that the CPDH approach local office of the National
Democratic Institute (NDI) as well.


6. (SBU) The CPDH leaders were alarmed that the November
elections could produce a National Assembly in which Ortega's

FSLN and the leftist alliance of Herty Lewites ("Alliance
Herty 2006") would have a majority of seats. Although
Lewites claims to be building a democratic center-left
alternative to the FSLN, the CPDH leaders noted that much of
his funding comes from Humberto Ortega, Daniel's brother and
former commander of the Sandinista army. The CPDH fears
that, whatever the reality or the fiction of the present
Daniel-Herty split, the two will end up joining forces after
the elections.
TRIVELLI