Case History: Erick Cunningham Zamora

On 18 September 2015, houses in a Wangki Twi community were razed to the ground in a continuation of serious violence against members of these communities and the people who defend their rights.

The events follow an attack on 15 September 2015 when, at approximately 11:40pm, human rights defenders Messrs Constantino Romel Frech, Obencio Downs Peralta and Rossman Flores Gonzales were ambushed by members of the army and national police, who opened fire on them. The three human rights defenders were seriously injured in the gunfire and remain in a critical state in hospital.

On the night of the attack, the human rights defenders had been bringing food and clothing to the besieged communities in Francia Sirpi, Santa Clara, Esperanza and Wisconsin. These communities, and many more like them in the Wangki Twi and Li Aubra municipalities in the Waspán area of Nicaragua, are historically the lands of various indigenous peoples. Between 2013 and 2014, the Centro por la Justicia y Derechos Humanos de la Costa Atlántica de Nicaragua (Centre for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua –CEJUDHCAN) brought together the 23 territorial governments, religious leaders, civil society, as well as the elders council and community university of the region, in order to formulate a proposal to implement Law no. 445, in order to began the “saneamiento territorial”, or territorial demarcation. They presented this proposal to the Attorney General of Nicaragua. However, to date, there has been no action from the Nicaraguan government in relation to the proposal. Indigenous communities on the lands have been under constant attack by people whom they refer to as settlers, who operate with the assistance of the army and police forces.

On 14 September 2015 Constantino Romel Frech had publicly denounced the violent situation in the indigenous territories of Wangki Twi and Li Aubra, in which at least nine indigenous lives have been lost in the past months, and more than 200 people forcibly displaced from their lands. The communities in Esperanza, Santa Clara and Francia Sirpi have experienced at least five ambushes carried out by so-called settlers since June 2015, during which indigenous people have been seriously injured, kidnapped, and killed. The human rights defender has been publicly calling on the Nicaraguan government to enforce Law 445, and register the land under dispute as indigenous territory. Constantino Romel Frech remains in hospital with a punctured lung and is in a critical condition.

On 3 September 2015, at approximately 3am, so-called settlers attacked the community of Santa Clara, killing community leader Mr Rosmeldo Solórzano. Human rights defender Erick Cunningham Zamora, who is a member of the CEJUDHCAN and Mr Adoni Molina were injured in the attack and community judge Mr Benito Francisco died ten days later in Managua.

Many members of the communities have fled, seeking refuge in Bilwi and on the Honduran border. Following the events of that morning, members of the community in Bilwi protested peacefully outside the regional government offices. In response, the authorities closed the doors of the building.

The dispute over the indigenous territories is becoming increasingly tense. On 15 September 2015, the national police released a statement claiming that, on 14 September 2015, the indigenous political party Yatama had attacked people marching in a patriotic parade, leaving one dead and eight wounded. The statement also claimed that it had called on members of the community not to participate in these parades on 13 September 2015. On the back of these accusations, the Nicaraguan government has sent special military forces into the Waspán area.