Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should continue to support the people of Nicaragua in their peaceful efforts to promote democracy and human rights, and use the tools under United States law to increase political and financial pressure on the government of Daniel Ortega.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution (1) calls on Nicaragua to release all political prisoners and cease all acts of repression against dissenting voices, (2) urges the Nicaraguan government to respect its citizens' constitutional rights and implement electoral reforms, and (3) recognizes and encourages efforts to promote democracy in Nicaragua by holding corrupt actors and human rights abusers in the Nicaraguan government accountable for their actions.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 754 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 754

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
  States should continue to support the people of Nicaragua in their 
  peaceful efforts to promote democracy and human rights, and use the 
   tools under United States law to increase political and financial 
              pressure on the government of Daniel Ortega.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 9, 2019

Mr. Sires (for himself, Mr. Rooney of Florida, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, Mr. 
Phillips, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Costa, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Wasserman 
    Schultz, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Yoho, Mr. Guest, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Miss 
 Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico, and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
  States should continue to support the people of Nicaragua in their 
  peaceful efforts to promote democracy and human rights, and use the 
   tools under United States law to increase political and financial 
              pressure on the government of Daniel Ortega.

Whereas the government of Daniel Ortega has concentrated power and brought about 
        the progressive deterioration of democratic conditions in Nicaragua;
Whereas recent elections in Nicaragua, including the 2016 Presidential 
        elections, have been marred by irregularities and characterized by 
        significant restrictions on the participation of opposition parties and 
        the absence of credible international and local electoral observers;
Whereas Nicaraguan security forces, parapolice, and other actors working under 
        the direction of the Ortega regime committed gross violations of human 
        rights and acts of repression, resulting in more than 325 deaths, over 
        2,000 injuries, and at least 800 arbitrary detentions during the 
        peaceful protests that took place in 2018, according to the Organization 
        of American States;
Whereas a report by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, 
        appointed by the Organization of American States Inter-American 
        Commission on Human Rights, determined that the Ortega regime used 
        deliberate, lethal force against protesters and committed acts of 
        torture that meet the international legal standard of crimes against 
        humanity;
Whereas an estimated 62,000 Nicaraguans fled the country between April 2018 and 
        April 2019, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Refugees;
Whereas the Ortega government reneged on its commitment to release all political 
        prisoners by releasing just 392 people, of which 286 were released to 
        house arrest with charges still pending, while the Civic Alliance for 
        Justice and Democracy alleges that there remain over 150 political 
        prisoners as of November 29, 2019;
Whereas a United States citizen and Navy veteran, 57-year-old Eddy Montes, was 
        shot and killed while in the custody of the Nicaraguan police at La 
        Modelo Prison on May 16, 2019;
Whereas the government of Daniel Ortega has severely restricted freedom of the 
        press by closing five local television stations, attacking independent 
        radio stations, arbitrarily detaining journalists, and illegally 
        restricting print supplies from entering the country;
Whereas the Ortega regime has violated the economic and political rights 
        protections of indigenous communities, rural campesinos, land rights 
        defenders, and those living in the Caribbean Autonomous Regions of 
        Nicaragua;
Whereas, on November 27, 2018, Executive Order 13851 was issued, which blocks 
        the property of certain persons contributing to the situation in 
        Nicaragua, and its application was expanded on September 4, 2019;
Whereas the Departments of State and the Treasury have imposed targeted 
        sanctions on nine Nicaraguan officials, including First Lady and Vice 
        President Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega's son, Laureano Ortega, as 
        well as Nicaragua's Banco Corporativo (Bancorp);
Whereas the bipartisan Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act (NICA Act), was 
        signed into law on December 20, 2018, allowing the Department of the 
        Treasury to sanction non-United States persons implicated in egregious 
        human rights abuses and corruption in Nicaragua;
Whereas, in June 2019, Canada imposed sanctions on 12 members of the Nicaraguan 
        Government engaged in gross and systemic human rights violations;
Whereas the Ortega government has not complied with efforts of the commission 
        appointed by the Permanent Council of the Organization of American 
        States seeking a peaceful resolution to the social and political crisis;
Whereas, on September 15, 2019, the Ortega government denied entry into the 
        country to an official Organization of American States delegation 
        mission; and
Whereas, beginning on November 14, 2019, Nicaraguan police conducted attacks on 
        churches throughout the country, cut water to hunger strikers barricaded 
        inside a church in Masaya, and arrested 13 people attempting to bring 
        them water: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls on the Nicaraguan Government to immediately 
        release all political prisoners without conditions and cease 
        all acts of violence, repression, and intimidation against 
        dissenting voices in Nicaragua;
            (2) condemns the Nicaraguan Government's continued failure 
        to comply with agreements made with the Organization of 
        American States;
            (3) urges the Ortega government to respect Nicaraguans' 
        constitutional rights and implement electoral reforms including 
        free, fair, multiparty elections open to international 
        observers, in compliance with the agreement reached through 
        negotiations with the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy 
        and the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB) in March 2019;
            (4) expresses full support for the people of Nicaragua, 
        Nicaraguan independent media, and Nicaraguan civil society 
        organizations that are working for a peaceful return to 
        democratic order in Nicaragua;
            (5) recognizes and supports efforts of the United States 
        Government to promote democracy in Nicaragua and hold corrupt 
        actors and human rights abusers in the Nicaraguan Government 
        accountable for their actions;
            (6) urges the United States Government to continue to apply 
        pressure on the Ortega government and consider additional 
        sanctions against those Nicaraguan officials who have violated 
        the human rights of their citizens or committed acts of 
        significant corruption; and
            (7) urges the international community to hold the Ortega 
        government accountable for human rights abuses, including 
        attacks on religious freedom, and restrict its access to 
        foreign financing unless or until it allows for free, fair, and 
        prompt elections monitored by credible international and local 
        electoral observers.
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