Human Rights Watch accuses of Nicaragua torture against protesters, urges sanctions

FILE PHOTO: People hold Nicaraguan flags while forming a human chain to demand justice for people who died during anti-government protests, in Managua, Nicaragua July 4, 2018. REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera

MANAGUA (Reuters) - Pro-government forces in Nicaragua committed human rights abuses including torture in suppressing recent protests against President Daniel Ortega, and top officials should face sanctions, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Wednesday.

After demonstrations against Ortega broke out in April 2018, more than 700 people were arrested and 325 mostly opposition protesters died in clashes with security forces, creating the country's worst crisis since a bloody civil war in the 1980s.