Managua - Three-and-a-half months of political violence in
Nicaragua has claimed 317 lives so far, the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights (IACHR) said Thursday.
The victims included 21 police officers and 23 children, according to
the report.
President Daniel Ortega has acknowledged 195 deaths, while a
parliamentary Truth Commission puts the death toll at 265 and the
human rights group Asociacion Nicaraguense Pro Derechos Humanos
(ANPDH) as high as 448.
The IACHR reported "the intensification of the repression" against
protesters and said it had "alarming information" on "judicial
persecution and criminalization" of government opponents.
The IACHR issued its report as the Permanent Council of the
Organization of American States (OAS) was preparing to discuss the
possible creation of a commission to monitor the crisis in Nicaragua.
The OAS earlier issued a resolution asking Ortega to stage early
elections, a request that the president has rejected.
The Central American country has been in turmoil since April 18, when
protests erupted against controversial social security reforms.
President since 2007, Ortega already held the office between 1985 and
1990, and coordinated a Junta of National Reconstruction between 1979
and 1985.
The former leftist guerrilla has been accused of ruthlessly clinging
to power in an attempt to enrich his his family and entourage.