UN Experts: Nicaragua Lacks Any Judicial Independence
During the 57th session of the Human Rights Council, experts point to a systematic deterioration of human rights in Nicaragua.
HAVANA TIMES – Human rights violations in Nicaragua have evolved systematically since 2018. The concentration of power by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo continues to increase, and repression now has cross-border reach.
These are some of the points made during the 57th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, in which the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua (GHREN) participated.
The expert Group stressed that Nicaragua “does not meet even the most minimal reasonable standard of judicial independence” as power becomes increasingly concentrated in the dictatorial couple.
“We have identified at least 66 individuals in the middle and upper echelons of the organized power structure that is under the control of Nicaragua’s two rulers,” said the GHREN’s chairman, German-born Jan-Michael Simon, in his presentation of the Group’s report on Nicaragua to the Human Rights Council.
In the report, the German lawyer and fellow GHREN member, Uruguayan human rights expert Ariela Peralta, indicated that this power structure continues to facilitate, coordinate and carry out serious human rights violations and abuses.
Simon explained that crimes against humanity continue in Nicaragua. He pointed particularly to politically motivated persecution, arbitrary arrests, torture and mistreatment, as well as the instrumentalization of criminal law to eliminate any real, potential or perceived opposition.
“Victims are forced to choose between prison and leaving the country. A very recent example of this is the departure from the country of 135 people for political reasons,” Simon recalled, alluding to the recent banishment of political prisoners to Guatemala.
Repression in Nicaragua “with cross-border reach”
Even outside Nicaragua, the Ortega regime commits human rights violations with “cross-border reach” by denying the return to the country of many opponents, said the UN expert, who put the number of victims of these abuses abroad at more than 700.
Relatives of opponents, including at least a hundred children, are victimized solely because of their family ties, Simon pointed out, before also recalling the repression of civil society organizations and institutions, including the Catholic Church.
“All efforts to organize the peasant population have been dismantled, and the forced takeover of universities and violations against student leaders and professors have massively affected education,” the German jurist stressed.
Simon also lamented that indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities continue to suffer serious violations of their rights to self-determination and control of their territories, where their leaders and activists “are systematically persecuted by the State for defending their rights.”
The expert pointed out that none of the indigenous political prisoners were included in the group of 135 who were released and banished on September 5.
“Systematic attack against religious organizations”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also denounced that Nicaraguan authorities have launched a “systematic attack against religious organizations,” noting the expulsion of 42 priests and seminarians in the last year. It also denounced the increase in repression against activists and their families.
The Office’s director of operations and technical cooperation, Christian Salazar, highlighted that “persecution has resulted in the closure of at least 1,103” religious entities since 2018. He stressed that religious persecution has also resulted in arbitrary arrests of clerics and laypeople, judicial processes without due process or legal guarantees, kidnappings of priests in their parishes, and the aforementioned expulsions.
The attack on these institutions “has profoundly eroded the enjoyment of the right to freedom of conscience and religion, leaving Nicaraguan society increasingly unprotected and silenced,” said Salazar, in representation of the Office headed by High Commissioner Volker Türk. The closing of legal institutions, he added, is also part of the Nicaraguan regime’s policy to cancel the legal status of all types of organizations.
“This leaves thousands of people without access to essential services, and [it leaves] many more unemployed, affecting their livelihoods and exacerbating the social and economic crisis in Nicaragua,” Salazar added.
Regarding the harassment of relatives of activists and others perceived as opponents, Salazar denounced that they “are forbidden to talk about the cases under threat of losing visitation rights or imprisonment of other family members.”
Salazar expressed concern about the recent modification of the Penal Code and the law against money laundering and financing of terrorism, saying that the reforms “could be used to intensify persecution and repression,” especially against Nicaraguans in exile and foreigners.
Salazar also noted that just in the month of July 2023, 11 journalists were forced to leave the country for fear of reprisals. He denounced that between June 2023 and June 2024, at least 62 Nicaraguans were prevented by authorities from returning to their own country. He said this was an example of “forced banishment” with a “devastating impact.”
Attacks on freedom of speech and assembly
Earlier in the session, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk criticized Nicaragua and Venezuela for their actions to muzzle freedom of speech and restrict the right to assembly and association.
“These freedoms are vital for critical debate, for bringing out the best in societies and for finding solutions to major problems,” the UN human rights chief stressed as he opened the 57th session of the Human Rights Council.
Türk presented an assessment of the situation of human rights throughout the world, identifying the most worrying situations, among which he highlighted the cases of Venezuela and Nicaragua, both mired in deep political and socio economic crises.
Türk also denounced the takeover by powerful political and economic forces, of institutions that, by definition, should be totally independent, such as the judiciary or electoral bodies.