New Report on Family Separation and Detention at the Border Documents Incompetence and Disregard for Human Rights

Washington, DC—Yesterday, an independent panel of investigators commissioned by the human rights arm of the Organization of American States (OAS) urged the Nicaraguan government to provide them full access to documents related to the violence that took place from April 18 to May 30 in Nicaragua.

By Geoff Ramsey and Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli

INTRODUCTION AND KEY FINDINGS

As the political, social and economic crisis in Venezuela worsens, more and more Venezuelans are fleeing their country in droves each day. Impoverished Venezuelans are facing food and medicine shortages. Unable to sustain their families, many are seeking refuge abroad as a way out of their predicament. South American countries, which are unaccustomed to receiving such large migration flows, are struggling to respond to the needs of the Venezuelan migrant population.

A medida que empeora la crisis política, social y económica en Venezuela, más y más venezolanos huyen de su país cada día. De todos los países sudamericanos afectados por el éxodo en Venezuela, Colombia ha visto la mayor ola de llegadas, ocasionando gran tensión en las instituciones y sistemas locales en un momento en que Colombia también enfrenta el desafío de implementar su histórico acuerdo de paz de 2016.

Washington, DC—On July 3, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI, by its Spanish acronym) began their initial visit to Nicaragua where they will support and contribute to investigations concerning the human rights abuses that have left more than 200 people dead since April 18. The OAS’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) had urged the Nicaraguan government to agree to an independent investigative body, and announced the Commissioners on Tuesday.