Nicaragua confirms death in custody of Indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera

Brooklyn Rivera, a prominent Indigenous leader and politician from Nicaragua, has died at the age of 73 while in state custody. According to the Nicaraguan government, Rivera’s cause of death was attributed to a bacterial infection that developed after he contracted COVID-19.

Reed Brody, a member of the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, expressed skepticism over the official explanation for Rivera’s death. In a statement prior to his passing, Brody stated that the circumstances surrounding Rivera’s detention and treatment in government custody contributed to his demise.

Rivera had been held in state detention since September 2023, with limited contact with the outside world. His family was initially barred from seeing him, but photos of Rivera intubated in a hospital were published by the Ministry of the Interior, revealing his deteriorating health condition.

The United States government condemned Rivera’s treatment and called for his unconditional release. In a statement, the US State Department stated that Nicaragua’s leaders were responsible for Rivera’s “cruel treatment” and demanded his immediate freedom.

Rivera was an Indigenous leader who advocated for the protection of his people’s ancestral lands along Nicaragua’s northeast coast. He had previously been involved in the fight against the country’s first Sandinista government and co-founded Yamata, an Indigenous political party that secured limited autonomy for Indigenous peoples following peace negotiations with the Sandinistas.

In recent years, Rivera continued to speak out against the government, including during a UN forum on Indigenous peoples in Geneva, Switzerland. After delivering remarks critical of Nicaragua, he was banned from re-entering the country and eventually smuggled himself back into the country before his arrest in September 2023.

The Nicaraguan government has been criticized for its hardline rule and record of human rights abuses, including the arrest, imprisonment, torture, exile, and revocation of citizenship for dissidents.

Source: Al Jazeera