This persecution of civilians for political reasons Nicaragua crimes against humanity, According to the UN Group of Human Rights Experts, the Central American country has confirmed cases of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture and other abuses, as well as indiscriminate withdrawal of citizenship.
The group argues that this is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather “committed extensively and systematically for political reasons”, in the words of independent expert Jan Simon. “The people of Nicaragua live in fear of the measures the Government will take against them,” he warned.
Therefore, they urged the international community to sanction both leaders and institutions to the extent that there is a clear pattern of “eliminating any dissent in the country by different means”. They point directly to the president, daniel ortegaand ‘number two’ and his wife, Rosario Murillo.
“The top authorities of the government have succeeded in instrumentalizing their executive, legislative, judicial and electoral powers to develop and exercise them. a legal framework aimed at suppressing the exercise of fundamental freedoms and persecuting dissidents“Simon warned in his statement.
Experts estimate that more than 3,100 nonprofits have closed since 2018.While almost all independent media and human rights watchdogs operate from abroad.
This the situation has continued to worsen in recent weeks, With the removal of 300 people who were classified as “traitors” by the Nicaraguan authorities.
Expert Ángela María Buitrago, to “accelerate”the use of institutions as “weapons”, the authorities “attempted to persecute, criminalize and eliminate dissent voices” that led thousands of people to be “forced” to leave Nicaragua.
In this sense, they accused the authorities of obstructing the investigation of the violations, Although police officers, prison officials and government militias committed acts of physical and psychological torture, some of this goes back to the suppression of the 2018 protests.
Simon stressed that the misconduct accredited in the report “raises the responsibility of the State of Nicaragua, as well as individual criminal liability of those found guilty,” either under the Nicaraguan legal framework or third countries. ““Today, the state and the international community have this knowledge to take action,” he said.