U.N. Experts Find Reasonable Grounds for Crimes Against Humanity in Nicaragua
A panel investigating the country since 2018 cites arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and the stripping of citizenship as key evidence in its findings.
By Tyler Khalil ·
United Nations human rights experts announced on Wednesday that there is reasonable grounds to believe crimes against humanity have occurred in Nicaragua.
The panel, which has investigated allegations of violations since April 2018, stated that co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have established a dictatorship. The experts documented actions aimed at eliminating opposition through arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, political persecution, and the removal of citizenship from opponents.
Jan-Michael Simon, chair of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council group, told U.N. reporters that the dictatorship’s goal is permanent dynastic rule. He noted that Ortega stated four months ago that Nicaragua would never hold elections again. Simon described the current situation as a full dictatorship.
Reed Brody, a member of the expert group, said the ruling Sandinista Party has total control over the police, courts, and prisons. He added that the legislature and judiciary are no longer independent under a constitution adopted last year. Brody stated that there are no opposition parties, independent press, or critical nongovernmental organizations left inside the country.
Since mass protests in 2018 led to a bloody government crackdown that killed hundreds, Ortega and Murillo have remained in power. Ortega declared himself the winner of the 2021 election, a vote widely viewed as illegitimate by the international community, after jailing all candidates who could have beaten him. The United States does not recognize Ortega’s presidency.
The government has imprisoned or exiled adversaries, religious leaders, and journalists while stripping hundreds of their citizenship, homes, and possessions. Since 2018, more than 5,000 organizations, largely religious, have been shuttered, and thousands have been forced to flee the country. The government often accuses critics of working for the United States and its enemies to undermine its power.
Brody reported that at least 452 Nicaraguans considered political opponents have been declared traitors and stripped of citizenship since February 2023. This group includes former Sandinista leaders, a former vice president, and all presidential candidates from 2021. A transnational surveillance network monitors, intimidates, and attacks hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans abroad. The experts urge countries to bring a case against Nicaragua to the International Court of Justice for violating the convention on statelessness. Nicaragua is not a party to the International Criminal Court.
