Brooklyn Rivera, the indigenous leader who was ‘disappeared’ by the Nicaraguan government, has died.

Three years after Nicaraguan indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera was arrested, his friends and family did not know where he was being held, whether he was alive, or still alive.

Then, last week, the government released photos of 73-year-old Rivera in the hospitalthin and hollow. Two days later, he was dead.

Métis leader Clément Chartier, a longtime friend and colleague of Rivera’s, said it was “sad” to hear of his death.

“He was a selfless person,” said Chartier, the Manitoba Métis Federation’s international and international relations ambassador.

“Basically he was a remarkable man, a brave man, and learned – a great orator. [for his people].”

He is asking for an investigation into his death

Riviera was a world-renowned activist who spent decades fighting for the independence of Nicaragua’s indigenous people. He served in the national assembly of Nicaragua for 16 years, and was a Miskito leader for more than four decades.

He has been in custody since 2023, when he was arrested as part of what human rights groups say was a brutal crackdown on political dissent under the leadership of Nicaragua’s married presidents, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, leaders of the Sandinista party.

The Nicaraguan government issued a statement on Sunday saying Rivera died in custody from a viral infection following a previous case of COVID-19, despite “massive and vigorous efforts” to save him.

US human rights lawyer Reed Brody says it is impossible to verify claims about Rivera’s life, but blames the government for his death.

“He died almost three years in detention under the conditions of a disappeared person where he could not reach his family, he could not access health care,” said Brody, a member of the United Nations team of experts in Nicaragua, told. As It Happened hosted by Nil Köksal.

“And, unfortunately, he is not the first person disappeared by the government to die under circumstances that we cannot find.”

The Nicaraguan government said Rivera had a long list of pre-existing medical conditions that worsened over time, which his daughter, Tininiska Rivera, denied it.

After his death, issued a statementasking the Nicaraguan government to release his father’s body from the family, so that he could be buried according to Miskito customs.

Tininiska did not respond to a request for comment.

The United Nations, human rights organizations again Indigenous organizations all have called for a thorough investigation into Rivera’s death.

‘He was really loved by the people’

Riviera spent most of his career fighting to protect the independence of the Miskitos in their territory on the northeastern coast of Nicaragua, which is rich in gold, silver and other valuable resources.

In the 1970s and ’80s, he fought the first Sandinista government of Ortega as the leader of the Misurasata military, during which time he was repeatedly forced to flee the country to live in exile in Costa Rica and Colombia.

Chartier says he first met Rivera in 1981 at the General Assembly of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples in Canberra, Australia, and they remained close.

They worked closely with the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, and later with the American Council of Indigenous Peoples. He says he often visited Rivera in his hometown, and spent time with his family.

Chartier also joined Rivera on a trip to visit indigenous villages in Nicaragua in 1986 during the armed Indignous struggle, which he wrote in his book, Witness the Resistance: Under Fire in Nicaragua.

“He was really loved by the people. “They call them in their language Ta Uplalike a top leader.”

In the late 1980s, Rivera founded the political party Yatama, which played a major role in gaining limited autonomy for indigenous peoples following peace talks with the Sandinistas.

Yatama formed an alliance with Ortega when he returned to power in 2007, but Chartier says that quickly changed as the regime ramped up human rights abuses.

In April 2023, Rivera went to Geneva to participate in the UN forum on indigenous peoples, where he spoke against the Nicaraguan government’s treatment of indigenous peoples.

“Daniel Ortega and Rosario Maria do not condone this type of behavior,” Brody said. “So he was banned from returning to the country, as were many Nicaraguans.”

124 cases of arbitrary detention in Nicaragua: UN

Yatama was banned as a group, and many of its leaders were arrested. Despite this, Rivera sneaked back to Nicaragua, remaining in hiding until September 2023, when he was arrested and charged with terrorism.

Rivera has never been formally charged, and Brody says it took nearly two years of pressure from officials before the government admitted he was in custody.

“For many years, the family was grieving without knowing it, and the first thing they saw was these [hospital] pictures,” Brody said. “They’re sad.”

He says stories like Rivera’s are common.

The UN team of experts in Nicaragua documented 124 cases of arbitrary detention of Indigenous people in Nicaragua between 2018 and 2024. During that time, it says 46 indigenous people were killed in violent incidents.

Brody says at least six political prisoners have died in Nicaraguan custody since 2019, including two last August.

“This is a government that has always wanted revenge,” he said.