UN human rights commissioner presses Nicaragua for answers on missing bishop

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk demanded that the Nicaraguan regime provide information on the whereabouts and condition of Bishop Abelardo Mata, who has been subjected to enforced disappearance since late June.

“I am concerned by reports of repression against the Catholic Church and other religious denominations, including the lack of official information regarding the fate, whereabouts, and condition of 80-year-old Bishop Abelardo Mata Guevara, who was detained on June 29,” the high commissioner stated on July 22, according to the organizationʼs website.

“I urge the authorities to release immediately all individuals who have been arbitrarily detained and to ensure that all those detained are treated with humanity and dignity in line with Nicaragua’s obligations under international human rights law,” Türk said.

Mata, the bishop emeritus of Estelí, was detained twice by police in late June after praying for the persecuted Church in Nicaragua during a Mass he celebrated on Sunday, June 28.

His whereabouts are unknown , although the dictatorship has stated that he is at home.

The Central American bishops have called on the regime to allow him…