Sunday 13 October 2013

Nicaragua: Proposal to turn Chipote prison into museum

Nicaragua's opposition BDN party wants the notorious Chipote prison, where inmates were tortured during the Somoza dictatorship and Sandinista government, to be converted into a museum. 

The Nicaragua Dispatch notes that there have been previous unsuccessful attempts to do this and that there is no guarantee that the ruling Sandinista Front will accept the bill. But you never know. I find it interesting that the prison is still a working one so it would first need to be closed before it could be renovated and its use changed. In examples like that of Argentina's ESMA, there was a significant gap between the use of the site as a clandestine detention centre and its re-opening as a cultural site. 

Human rights organisations want the prison closed in any case because of its extremely poor conditions.

Thanks to Mike at Central American Politics for drawing my attention to this story.

Prisons to peace centers following civil wars (Central American Politics)
Nicaragua's opposition wants to turn jail into torture museum (Nicaragua Dispatch)
Oposición pide declarar museo a un centro de tortura de la dictadura Somoza (elconfidencial.com)
Exigen a la Asamblea Nacional cerrar "El Chipote"
Exigen a la Asamblea Nacional cerrar "El Chipote"
Exigen a la Asamblea Nacional cerrar "El Chipote" (confidencial.com.ni)
ONG respalda el cierre de un centro de tortura de la dictadura de los Somoza (eldiario.es)
El Chipote, una historia macabra (laprensa.com.ni - this is an older article providing background info)
Exigen a la Asamblea Nacional cerrar "El Chipote"
Exigen a la Asamblea Nacional cerrar "El Chipote"
Exigen a la Asamblea Nacional cerrar "El Chipote"

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