Members of the Nicaragua subgroup of the LAWG have worked closely over the years with Maria Luisa Acosta, Director of the Nicaraguan Center for Legal Assistance to Indigenous Peoples. Over the past year, subgroup members have mobilized to support Ms. Acosta and the groups that she represents in a case involving indigenous rights to islands off the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Ms. Acosta has repeatedly received threats on her life due to the nature of her work.

On April 8, Ms. Acosta's husband was found murdered in their home in Bluefields. Following this tragic event, and in consultation with Ms. Acosta, the Nicaragua subgroup responded immediately with a statement of support from US NGOs that was sent to the Nicaraguan press. We have since met with the Nicaraguan Embassy in Washington and delivered letters to the Nicaraguan government to press for a thorough investigation of the case, for protection for Ms. Acosta and her family, and for increased attention to the plight of indigenous peoples on the Atlantic Coast. Below is the press statement.

Press Statement on the Death of Francisco Jose Garcia Valle, April 8 2002

We, the undersigned organizations, extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Francisco Jose Garcia Valle, President of the Bluefields Chamber of Commerce and Professor at the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast (URACCAN), who was brutally murdered in his house on April 8. We offer our sincerest condolences to his wife, Doctor Maria Luisa Acosta, Director of the Center for Legal Assistance to Indigenous Peoples.

We are deeply concerned for the safety of Maria Luisa Acosta and her family following this terrible act. Ms. Acosta has received repeated threats to her physical safety in the past because of her advocacy of indigenous rights. We call on the Nicaraguan government, in consultation with Dr. Acosta and her family, to take every precaution to ensure their safety while this case is under investigation. We also call on President Bolaños to urge a prompt and thorough investigation; and we ask that once found, the intellectual authors and perpetrators of the crime are held fully accountable and brought to justice.

Geoff Thale, Senior Associate for Central America
Washington Office on Latin America

Kathy Hoyt, Director
Nicaragua Network

Kathy Thornton, National Coordinator
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Margaret Swedish, Director
Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico

Fr. David A. Moczulski, OFM Executive Director
Franciscan Washington Office for Latin America

Barbara Gerlach and Cristina Espinel, Co-Chairs
Colombia Human Rights Committee

Sarah C. Aird, Executive Director
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala

Cherrene Horazuk, Executive Director
CISPES - Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

Tom Ricker, Political Coordinator
Quixote Center/Quest for Peace

Kathy Ogle, EPICA Coordinator
Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean

Rita Clark, Director
Nicaragua-US Friendship Office

Gail Taylor, Legislative Director
School of the Americas Watch

Alice Zachmann, Director
Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Jason Wallach, Coordinator
Mexico Solidarity Group

Harry Smaller, Professor
York University, Toronto Canada

Dr. Susan Heald, Associate Professor
University of Manitoba

Miguel Gonzalez Perez, Ph.D., Professor
Political Science Department at York University, Toronto, Canada

Dolores Figueroa Romero, Ph.D., Professor
Sociology Department at York University, Toronto, Canada

Dr. Craig W. Auchter, Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Political Science at Butler University