• Press Release

Amnesty International documents armed attack on students in Nicaragua

May 28, 2018

Riot police clash with protesting engineering students in Managua on May 28, 2018. (Photo by INTI OCON / AFP) (Photo credit should read INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
Students from the National University of Engineering who were defending their campus in Managua, Nicaragua, were attacked with firearms today, confirmed Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International, in a live broadcast from her Facebook account.

Guevara-Rosas broadcast two videos of the attacks carried out first by pro-government armed groups known as “turbas sandinistas” (Sandinista mobs) and then by riot police:

https://www.facebook.com/erikaguev/videos/10155309685356021/

https://www.facebook.com/erikaguev/videos/10155309827286021/

Violence against students has been increasing since April 18, when protests against social security reforms began. Since then, Amnesty International has carried out in-depth research in Nicaragua in order to confirm the reports of human rights violations.

On Tuesday, May 29, the organization will launch a report in Managua at 10 am local time (12 PM ET), in which it documents multiple cases of violence and repression on the part of the National Police and pro-government armed groups known as “turbas sandinistas” (Sandinista mobs).