Nicaragua: Gioconda Belli addresses Human Rights Council on behalf of PEN International
11 September 2024: During the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (9 September to 11 October 2024), Gioconda Belli, prominent Nicaraguan writer and President of PEN Nicaragua, voiced concerns about the escalating repression of civil liberties, including freedom of expression, by the Nicaraguan authorities.
Speaking on behalf of PEN International during the Interactive Dialogue session on 10 September, Belli, now living in forced exile, highlighted the persecution of cultural organisations, the forced displacement of journalists, and the closure of media outlets and civil society groups, including PEN Nicaragua, which was shut down by the authorities on February 2021.
A full transcript of her oral statement is available below:
Thank you, Mr President.
On behalf of PEN International and sister organisations, I welcome the High Commissioner's report on human rights in Nicaragua. I am Gioconda Belli, a Nicaraguan writer stripped of my nationality for exercising my freedom of expression.
Among the 5,600 organisations that have been cancelled since 2018 is PEN Nicaragua, of which I was President. For fourteen years we fought for freedom of expression and the promotion of culture. What happens to a people denied speech and information? Fifty-six media outlets closed, 277 journalists in exile, church pulpits emptied of critical priests, cultural institutions such as the Granada Poetry Festival, the Nicaraguan Language Academy, Books for Children, private universities, more than 9,000 religious processions cancelled.
The actions and speeches of the regime reveal a systematic work to impose a distorted narrative of history and a culture of cancellation of our values and traditions.
They impose silence of the citizens in an attempt to distort reality and elaborate a creed that is harmful to the new generations. The soul of the Nicaraguan people is at stake.
We urge the Member States to continue to denounce and demand an end to the harassment of critical voices in Nicaragua.
Thank you.
Background information
PEN International continues to raise awareness of violations of freedom of expression and artistic freedom, working to protect writers and PEN members at risk inside and outside Nicaragua. During the Universal Periodic Review of Nicaragua in 2024, PEN International submitted a report on the situation of freedom of expression in the country, jointly with other free expression organisations.
The organisation reiterates its call for the Nicaraguan government to end its relentless repression of journalists, media outlets, cultural actors, and writers, and all those who face persecution for expressing their critical ideas through the written word.
For more information, read: War, Censorship and Persecution: PEN International Case List 2023/2024
Note to Editors:
For more information, please contact Alicia Quiñones, Head of the Americas Region, at PEN International, email: alicia.quinones@pen-international.org
For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager, Sabrina.Tucci@pen-international.org
