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On January 8, 2025, the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ) organized a rally in support of persecuted Christians in Nicaragua, next to the Nicaraguan embassy in Paris (video above).
For ECLJ, this demonstration in support of the victims of Daniel Ortega's Sandinista dictatorship was a success, as it enabled our report on Nicaragua, now available in three languages, to be widely publicized, thanks to excellent media coverage.
The Nicaraguan ambassador felt concerned by our approach, as she showed by her confused reactions. She initially agreed to receive us so that we could give her our report and exchange views, before changing her mind a few minutes later, without explanation. In the end, the police ushered us out of the embassy without allowing us to meet her.
This event brought together several speakers committed to defending the rights of Christians, in a spirit of fraternity and prayer. Thibault van den Bossche, ECLJ representative, began by describing the dramatic situation of Christians in Nicaragua and the institutional steps taken to defend their religious freedom. Two members of parliament did us the honor of speaking in support of these initiatives.
Éléonore Caroit (Renaissance group), MP for the 2ᵉ circonscription des Français de l'étranger - which includes Nicaragua - and Vice-Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, presented her motion for a resolution to defend human rights in Nicaragua has already been co-signed by MPs from various political groups. Nicolas Bay (Conservative Group), a French Member of the European Parliament who sits on the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America, also spoke of his commitment to defending persecuted Christians within the European Union.
The testimonies continued with François-Xavier Gicquel, from SOS Chrétiens d'Orient, who put into perspective Nicaragua's rapid rise to the top of the list of countries that persecute the most Christians in the world. Guillaume de Thieulloy, journalist and writer, traced the history of persecution by Marxist and related regimes. Jean-Pierre Maugendre, President of Renaissance Catholique, spoke of the Church's resistance to persecution. The event ended with some announcements of future ECLJ actions by Grégor Puppinck, its director, before a collective prayer led by Abbé Guy Pagès.
This high point provided an opportunity to continue raising awareness of the tragedy facing Christians in Nicaragua, which is still too little known, and to call for concrete action not only by political leaders, but by each and every one of us. In particular, ECLJ is taking part in the Universal Periodic Review of the human rights situation in Nicaragua, which will be adopted next March at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Support our action on behalf of Nicaragua's persecuted Christians: