US Demands Release Of 'Arbitrarily Detained' Protesters - State Department

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2019) The United States has called on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to release hundreds of protesters that Washington claims have been arbitrarily detained, US Department of State deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino said in a news release.

"We call on the Ortega regime to release immediately and unconditionally all arbitrarily detained persons; respect Nicaraguans' freedom of assembly and expression; and commit to electoral reforms and to holding free and fair elections early," Palladino said on Monday.

On Saturday, Nicaragua's national police arrested more than 100 people after protests erupted in the capital Managua, according to media reports.

The State Department criticized the arrests and violence that reportedly occurred against independent media during the protests.

Palladino said the United States will continue to urge accountability for those who have demonstrated blatant disregard for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In April 2018, anti-government protests erupted in Nicaragua when demonstrators took to the streets to protest unpopular social security reforms announced by President Daniel Ortega. After several days of demonstrations, Ortega canceled the reforms but the protests, which were accompanied by violence and clashes, continued.

According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, established within the Organization of American States, the death toll during the protests in Nicaragua from April 18 to July 30 reached 317 people, including 21 police officers.� The Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry, however, said in November that 198 people died in the violence.