The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal session on Nicaragua, held in Brussels from 5 to 8 October 1984, examined the allegations of aggression levelled against the United States by various Nicaraguan organisations and social groups in light of fundamental international legal principles. The Tribunal analysed the political, military, economic and logistical support that the United States provided to the armed counter-revolutionary groups (the Contras), who were fighting against the Sandinista government. The Tribunal also considered the consequences that such interventions had on Nicaragua’s political, economic and social stability.
The session took place in the aftermath of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution and amid the geopolitical tensions that affected Central America during the Cold War. The inquiry focused on whether US actions were compatible with the principles prohibiting the use of force and non-interference in the internal affairs of states, as well as the right of peoples to self-determination. This fact-finding exercise by the Tribunal forms part of the proceedings brought by Nicaragua against the United States before the International Court of Justice, concerning international responsibility in relation to US intervention in Nicaragua.
On the basis of the evidence gathered and the documentation examined, the Tribunal found that the United States’ actions towards Nicaragua constitute breaches of international law and an obstacle to the full exercise of the Nicaraguan people’s right to self-determination.
Requesting organisations:
Central Sandinista de Trabajadores (CST)
Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo (ATC)
Unión Nacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos (UNAG)
Confederacióm Nacional de Profesionales (CONAPRO)
Unión de Periodistas de Nicaragua (UPN)
Juventud Sandinista 19 de julio (JS 19)
Secretaría General de la Asociación de Mujeres Nicaraguenses Luis Amanda Esponoza (AMNLAE)
Federación de Trabajadores de la Salud
Comités de Defensa Sandinista
Asociación Nacional de Educadores de Nicaragua (ANDEN)
Asociación Sandinista de Trabajadores de la Cultura
Comité Nicaraguanese de Solidaridad con los Pueblos
Comité de Madres de Héroes y Mártires
Unión Nacional de Estudiantes de Nicaragua
Tribunal Antimperialista de Nuestra América
Documentation: