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Nicaragua: Female Prisoners Assaulted By Jail Staff For Praying Aloud

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Female prisoners at a jail in Nicaragua have been brutalized by staff after praying out loud, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports. Ruled by a dictatorial communist regime that is hostile to Christians, Nicaragua ranks 30TH on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

CSW reports that women imprisoned at the Women’s Holistic Penitentiary System, commonly known as La Esperanza, in Tipitapa in Managua Department are generally subjected to inhumane conditions and some have now been assaulted by prison guards for praying and using rosaries.

“The women have been denied time outdoors, as punishment, since mid-January 2024. Previously they were allowed out once a week. Some have also reportedly been beaten during interrogations, leaving bruising on their arms and legs,” CSW said in its report. “Political prisoners are not allowed to have a Bible or any writing materials, in violation of the Nelson Mandela Rules (the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners).”

In a statement about the situation, CSW’s Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: “Many of these women should not be in prison in the first place. That prisoners of any kind are being subjected to inhumane treatment as punishment for the simple exercise of their religious beliefs is unconscionable.”

The Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization warned in a recent website statement: “Hostility towards Christians in Nicaragua continues to intensify, with those who speak out against President Ortega and his government viewed as destabilizing agents… Christians have been among those to raise their voice – but it’s coming at an alarming cost.”