[Witness spoke in Spanish, interpreted as follows:]
Thank you very much. Good afternoon.
My name is Ana Quirós, and I am 62 years old. I have lived in Nicaragua for 40 years and I was expelled from the country on November 26. They first took away my citizenship without any explanation, and then they expelled me from the country. Ortega and Murillo's government was characterized even before it was a government by its direct persecution of women, especially women who are human rights defenders. Since we made the denunciation of Zoilamerica and of violations against Daniel Ortega, the women's organizations, and particularly feminist organizations, accompanied Zoila in her search for justice. Before the elections took place, the first thing they did was to criminalize abortion in Nicaragua after 150 years of legal abortion in Nicaragua, and after that there was persecution of organizations, particularly women's organizations. It was systematic persecution.
This worsened after April 18, 2018, when protests and civil resistance started to grow. I was the first person who was physically hit and attacked and injured in the protests, and they attacked me personally because they recognized me. They recognized me as a leader and a human rights defender. They hit me with tubes and chains and sticks. They cut my head. They broke my wrist. They broke my fingers. As a result of that attack, I have had to undergo three operations, and I haven't recovered full mobility in my hand.
As of March 18, there started to be systematic harassment against me and against my organization, and they also started harassing my family. This also included direct harassment and threats to my children, who are young men, 18 and 20 years old. They're students. Paramilitary groups went to the school and the university where my children studied to ask for them and to ask if I was going to be there to pick them up.
The harassment continued. We decided to take our children out of the schools. We received multiple threats via telephone and directly on the streets. We were also under surveillance constantly. This took place hand in hand with online campaigns that characterized us as terrorists and people who finance terrorism, who are linked to the government of the United States.
I have been the subject of precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights as of July of last year. I won't go so far as to say that it was useless, but it was completely ignored by the Government of Nicaragua. Women and women's organizations have been attacked systematically. Of the 400 people who were killed by the government during this time of protest, more than 35 women were murdered. Approximately 70 have been either imprisoned or limited to staying in their homes, and are therefore not free. We have identified many cases where women, especially young women, have been abused and raped. The regime has used violation and sexual violence as a tool or medium for torture specifically directed against women, although it has also happened to some men.
During this process of protests, women have played a very important role. Of the 184 people who were detained on a Saturday when a protest took place, more than 100 were women. They were all physically hit. They were all insulted. They were all abused. Ortega and Murillo's regime has clearly taken a stance against women. They have unleashed a very significant persecution against them.
On November 26 I had an appointment at the immigration office. I was not allowed to enter with my lawyer. When I finally was allowed into the office, they read a resolution in order to cancel my citizenship, my Nicaraguan citizenship, which I'd had for more than 20 years. They immediately handcuffed me. They took me, in a caravan of nine vehicles, to a place called El Chipote, one of the most feared penitentiaries. There I found that there was an accusation against me that I was a terrorist. A few hours later, they read a resolution to me that said I would be expelled from the country and would not be allowed to enter the country for the next five years. Verbally, however, they said I would never be allowed back into the country.
Two days later they cancelled the legal support from the organization that I was in charge of. A week later they confiscated our vehicles, our buildings and all our equipment. They took possession of all our paperwork. My colleagues in Nicaragua are currently in a situation where they're forced to hide. Of course, I can't return to the country. Even though I'm in Costa Rica, I continue to receive threats on behalf of the regime.
I call for justice against this regime that has caused the deaths of so many people, especially young people and women. There must be justice for the illegal detentions. For those of us who have been forced to leave the country, we must be able to return to our country. In order to achieve that, we rely on the support of the international community.
Thank you very much.