ECMIA statement: We demand the immediate release of Nancy Henriquez James

• ECMIA´S statement on the arbitrary detention of Ms. Nancy Henriquez James, indigenous Assemblywoman in Nicaragua and other indigenous representatives.

The Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas, ECMIA, raises its voice in solidarity with the indigenous movement of Nicaragua and rejects the political persecution against its representatives.

Our sister, Nancy Henríquez James, of the Miskito indigenous peoples and Assemblywoman of the indigenous party Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Aslatakanka (YATAMA), was detained on Sunday, October 1, by the police of Nicaragua. Assemblyman Brooklyn Rivera Bryan, of the same party, was arrested two days earlier, on September 30, 2023.

The indigenous women of the Americas:

We demand an end to the political persecution and criminalization of social justice leaders, especially those of the indigenous movement, who are fighting for democracy and their territories, the recognition of their collective rights, and denouncing before international bodies the violation of human rights.

We demand the immediate release and unrestricted respect for the Human Rights, both individual and collective, of our sister Nancy Henríquez James and Brooklyn Rivera Bryan, and that they return to their homes and functions in full health.

We call on international human rights institutions to demand the clarification of these arrests and to protect their physical integrity.