Dokument #1018683
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
Please find attached some articles that
refer to activities of the National Union of Nicaraguan Students,
the country's largest student organization, in late 1995 and early
1996. Please note that the attachments do not refer to opposition
to funding cuts to educational services, but rather to demands that
the government allocate a certain percentage of its budget to
universities. The attachments refer to a violent clash between
police and demonstrators in December 1995, and to the police
dislodging of a January 1996 occupation of the foreign ministry and
hostage-taking by the union's leaders and members, among other
demonstrations and forceful actions. Several of the attachments
report that the students and leaders who occupied the foreign
ministry were armed with slingshots and home-made bombs and
grenade-launchers or mortars (for example, Central America
Report 8 Feb. 1996, 2; AFP 2 Feb. 1996; ibid. 31 Jan. 1996;
The New York Times 2 Feb. 1996). Please refer to the
attachments for additional details.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Attachments
Agence France Presse (AFP). 2 February
1996. "Students Demand Release of Protesters, 35 Are Set Free."
(NEXIS)
_____. 31 January 1996. Lidia Hunter.
"After Hostage Crisis, Managua Students Briefly Hold 15 Police."
(NEXIS)
_____. 31 January 1996. Lidia
Hunter. "Pakistani, Philippine Ambassadors Safe in Hostage Crisis."
(Global NewsBank)
The Boston Globe. 7 February
1996. City Edition. Steve Fainaru. "A Nervous Nicaragua Awaits the
Pope." (NEXIS)
Central America Report
[Guatemala City]. 30 May 1996. "Nicaragua: University Budget Law
Vetoed," p. 3.
_____. 9 May 1996. "Nicaragua:
Controversy over Resources for Universities," p. 7.
_____. 8 February 1996. "Nicaragua:
Temporary Truce in University Budget Conflict," pp. 1-2.
Inter Press Service (IPS). 17 December
1995. "Universities Fear for State of Democracy." (Central
America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.],11-24 Dec. 1995, Vol. 10, No.
23, p. 11)
Miami Herald. 28 December 1995.
"Report: Police Opened Fire Without Permission." (Central
America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.],25 Dec. 1995-7 Jan. 1996, Vol.
10, No. 24, pp. 9-10)
_____. 15 December 1995. "Government,
Students Talking After Protests." (Central America NewsPak
[Austin, Tex.],11-24 Dec. 1995, Vol. 10, No. 23, pp. 11-12)
_____. 14 December 1995. "Professor
Killed, 19 People Hurt in Clash." (Central America NewsPak
[Austin, Tex.],11-24 Dec. 1995, Vol. 10, No. 23, p. 11)
_____. 13 December 1995. "Student
Protest Causes Shutdown of Airport." (Central America
NewsPak [Austin, Tex.],11-24 Dec. 1995, Vol. 10, No. 23, p.
11)
The New York Times. 2 February
1996. Julia Preston. "Nicaragua's Student Protests Cloud Pope's
Visit." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 22 Jan.-4
Feb. 1996, Vol. 10, No. 26, pp. 11-12)
Reuters. 30 January 1996. "Nicaraguan
Students Seize Foreign Ministry." (Global NewsBank)
The United Press International (UPI). 31
January 1996. BC Cycle. "Students Removed from Nicaraguan
Ministry." (NEXIS)