VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #0119/01 0231524
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 231524Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4947
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 000119 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KDEM KCRM NU
SUBJECT: CPDH HUMAN RIGHTS NGO REVIEWS EFFORTS TO HOLD FSLN 
ACCOUNTABLE FOR PAST AND PRESENT ABUSES OF POWER 
 
REF: A. 05 MANAGUA 1117 
 
     ¶B. 05 MANAGUA 2426 
     ¶C. 05 MANAGUA 2646 
     ¶D. 05 MANAGUA 2998 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR PAUL TRIVELLI. REASONS 1.4 (B,D). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  Leaders of the Nicaraguan Permanent Human 
Rights Commission (CPDH), a prominent human rights NGO, have 
informed the Ambassador that they are moving forward with two 
projects to hold Sandinista (FSLN) leaders accountable for 
abuses of power committed in the 1980s.  They are also 
investigating the FSLN cover-up of a recent fatal car 
accident in which Daniel Ortega's son was reportedly driving 
when two pedestrians were killed.  The CPDH is concerned by 
the possibility of a combined Daniel Ortega-Herty Lewites 
victory in the November national elections and is seeking 
international funding for training seminars it hopes to hold 
for official election observers from the "democratic" parties 
in an effort to block FSLN attempts to steal the vote.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a meeting with the Ambassador on January 19, 
leaders of the CPDH reaffirmed their commitment to holding 
the Sandinistas accountable for past and present abuses of 
the rights of Nicaraguan citizens.  CPDH President Nicholas 
Bolanos (President Bolanos' elder brother), Secretary Raymond 
Genie, and Executive Director Marcos Carmona called on the 
Ambassador to discuss ongoing and new CPDH projects.  They 
reported that two projects slated to receive USG funding are 
already underway.  These projects involve the computerization 
and publication of the organization's archives of human 
rights abuses, most of which date from the 1980s era of 
Sandinista rule, and the investigation of large scale FSLN 
rights abuses on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast during the 1980s 
(reftels).  (NOTE: Post understands that DRL has budgeted 
funds to support both projects, while USAID is funding the 
initial stages of the second effort.  USAID Managua has 
already signed a contract with the CPDH and expects that the 
first disbursement of funding will be made during the week of 
January 23-27, enabling the CPDH to continue and expand field 
work documenting 1980s abuses on the Atlantic coast in 
February. END NOTE) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Given the power and influence of the FSLN, the CPDH 
leaders said that they will need strong USG and international 
support if their efforts are to succeed.  They asked for USG 
assistance in finding international NGO partners to help them 
promote the Atlantic coast case once they have done the 
domestic work of gathering the information for the 
international complaint with the Inter-American Commission on 
Human Rights (IACHR).  They also anticipate threats and 
pressure from the FSLN once the Atlantic coast investigation 
gets underway in the field and gains publicity. 
 
¶4. (C) The CPDH officials added that they have received a 
complaint from one of the two families that recently lost 
their sons in a Managua traffic accident.  Rafael Ortega, son 
of FSLN caudillo Daniel Ortega, was reportedly in the 
driver's seat when the incident occurred.  Witnesses of the 
accident reported that Rafael Ortega was driving the car that 
hit the two young men, but the FSLN pulled a switch at the 
scene of the accident, claiming that another driver was 
behind the wheel of the FSLN-owned vehicle that struck and 
killed the two pedestrians.  So powerful is the fear of 
Daniel Ortega and the FSLN leadership that neither the police 
nor the media dare to state openly what really happened, even 
though the word on the street is that Ortega's son is the 
culprit.  If either of the families of the victims press the 
issue and the CPDH champions their case, the wrath of the 
FSLN is likely to fall on the organization. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The CPDH leaders also presented the Ambassador with 
a project proposal soliciting the aid of international donors 
for the organization's efforts to train official party 
electoral observers ("fiscales") for the November national 
elections.  In the absence of committed and well-trained 
observers from other parties, the FSLN is skilled and 
experienced at manipulating the results in individual polling 
centers, as it demonstrated once again in the November 2004 
municipal elections.  The CPDH is already slated to receive 
100,000 USD from the Government of Taiwan for this effort and 
will be seeking additional support from other members of the 
international donor community in Managua.  The Ambassador 
suggested that the CPDH approach local office of the National 
Democratic Institute (NDI) as well. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The CPDH leaders were alarmed that the November 
elections could produce a National Assembly in which Ortega's 
 
FSLN and the leftist alliance of Herty Lewites ("Alliance 
Herty 2006") would have a majority of seats.  Although 
Lewites claims to be building a democratic center-left 
alternative to the FSLN, the CPDH leaders noted that much of 
his funding comes from Humberto Ortega, Daniel's brother and 
former commander of the Sandinista army.  The CPDH fears 
that, whatever the reality or the fiction of the present 
Daniel-Herty split, the two will end up joining forces after 
the elections. 
TRIVELLI