Nicaragua: Human Rights abuses committed by "contras" and general information on their activities, 1985-1991
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1991 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | NIC7891 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Nicaragua: Human Rights abuses committed by "contras" and general information on their activities, 1985-1991, 1 February 1991, NIC7891, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad0b13.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
In addition to the IRBDC publications on Nicaragua and reports dealing with the requested subject currently available at your Regional Documentation Centres (Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, Critiques of the U.S. Department of State yearly Human Rights practices reviews, Amnesty International and ICCHRLA reports, among others), please find attached a copy of the documents listed below. Also attached, please find a copy of the index pages of the Americas Watch (Washington/New York) reports Human Rights in Nicaragua 1985 - 1986 (1986), Human Rights in Nicaragua 1986 (1987) and Human Rights in Nicaragua: August 1987 - August 1988 (1988). These index pages list sections on "Violations of the Laws of War" by the contras, with subheadings such as "Attacks against non-combatants", "Forced recruitment and kidnapping", "Treatment of Prisoners", "Attacks on co-operatives", "Mines", "Summary Executions" and "Attacks on health facilities". If these documents are not available at either one of your Regional Documentation Centres, copies of pertinent sections can be provided upon further request.
As an introduction to the information provided under the different subheadings, the Americas Watch report Human Rights in Nicaragua: August 1987 - August 1988 states that "since their attacks began in 1981, the contras have engaged in a consistent pattern of violations of the laws of war" (p. 103). The same report states in page 4 that after the Central American Peace Plan was signed in 1987, "the contras continued their policy and practice of attacking peasant cooperatives and of killing civilians after the fighting had ended", adding that "the contras continued to engage in kidnappings of civilians, summary executions and in attacks on health facilities".
The attached documents elaborate on these points and include two reports on recent activities by contras or former contras. The documents include:
-Norsworthy, K. Nicaragua: A Country Guide (New Mexico: The Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Center, 1990), pp. 57-63;
-Right to survive: Human Rights in Nicaragua (London: Catholic Institute for International Relations, 1987), pp. 34-43;
-Nicaragua: The Human Rights Record (New York: Amnesty International USA, 1989), pp. 4-8;
-"Pro-Sandinista FNT takes part in talks" (see subheading "some contras still active"), from Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico & Central America, 1 November 1990, p. 8;
-"Violence dominates Nicaraguan countryside", from