Nicaragua - September 2023

On 12 September, the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua provided an update to the UN Human rights Council, in which it reiterated its findings from a report issued last year, in the sense that President Ortega and other high-level officials have committed acts that prima facie constitute “the crime against humanity of persecution on political grounds”. The group of experts further expressed concern over the deterioration of academic freedom and the right to education, as measures against universities have led to no independent academic institutions remaining in Nicaragua. It also denounced measures against religious institutions, particularly the Catholic Church. It recommended that the government allow access to the country to the group of experts, and to the international community to cooperate to protect those expelled or displaced from their country. The High Commissioner also presented a report in which he detailed the deteriorating situation, particularly regarding civic space, and among other aspects called for the investigation of violence against Indigenous peoples and people of African descent.  

Sources: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (1), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2)