Nicaraguan lawyer dies in prison after accusing Daniel Ortega of raping his sister

Lawyer who accused Daniel Ortega of raping his sister, then a minor, dies in prison

Santos Sebastián Flores Castillo told the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) that he was  tortured in prison. Six of his siblings and mother had to leave the country and go into exile in the United States to avoid retaliation from the regime. Elpidia Castillo, mother of the deceased, maintained that her son was systematically tortured and threatened by the regime, Infobae reports.

Santos Sebastián Flores Castillo, 52, was found dead on Monday morning in La Modelo de Tipitapa prison. He was widely considered one of the first political prisoners of Daniel Ortega's regime.

Flores Castillo was imprisoned in June 2013, after accusing President Ortega of raping his 15-year-old sister, Elvia Junieth Flores Castillo, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) reported on Wednesday.

The human rights group called for the Interior Ministry and the prison system to carry out "an exhaustive investigation" to clarify the causes of the lawyer's death, in addition to denouncing the acts of physical and psychological torture to which he was subjected to throughout his years “of unjust confinement," CENIDH said in a statement.

Relatives of Flores Castillo claim that he was "unjustly" imprisoned after defending his sister, who became pregnant after being raped. According to the family, the deceased lawyer was falsely accused of raping Lucila Narcisa Cortez Garcia shortly after bringing charges against the Nicaraguan strongman.

Flores Castillo sent a letter to CENIDH in which he alleged that Ortega was using retaliatory measures against him. The letter continued to describe the torture he was subjected to in prison and pleaded with the human rights organization to help him.

"I can no longer stand this torture and this unjust imprisonment (...) I hold Daniel Ortega responsible for anything that happens to me in this prison or anywhere in Nicaragua," he wrote.

The Secretary General of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), Gerald Staberock, contacted the Ortega government to express his “concern” about the conditions of Flores Castillo in prison. Staberock’s complaints included concerns over “serious mistreatment, isolation, and restriction of visits”, as well as lack of access to health and human rights defenders.

Juan Carlos Arce, director of the Nicaraguan human rights group “Nunca Más,” told El Mundo that Flores Castillo’s death was political and that Daniel Ortega was to blame. Ortega has become an “executioner of political prisoners, but much crueler than Somoza. In Nicaragua, torture is committed systematically,” Arce added.

Presently, Ortega stands accused of raping his step-daughter. The case is being examined by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, after being dismissed by the Nicaraguan judiciary.

Ortega's stepdaughter is currently exiled in Costa Rica.