MIAMI, United States. – The president of the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua (GHREN), Jan-Michael Simon, He denounced this Monday in Geneva the serious human rights situation in the Central American country and stated that it does not meet the basic standards of judicial independence.
“Today, Nicaragua does not meet even the minimum reasonable standard of judicial independence,” Simon said during his speech at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The report presented by the official, which is based on more than 1,200 interviews and almost 5,000 documents, details crimes against humanity committed under the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murilloincluding political persecution and deprivation of nationality. “We have been able to establish that the concentration of all public powers in the hands of the president and vice president continues to tighten,” Simon explained.
Among the main violations documented are arbitrary detentions, torture and the use of criminal law as a weapon to eliminate any real or perceived opponent. Simon summed up the situation by saying that “victims are forced to choose between prison and leaving the country,” like the 135 political prisoners who were recently forced to leave Nicaragua.
The report also denounces cross-border violations, affecting victims who have been forced into exile. “Victims outside the national territory continue to be arbitrarily deprived of their livelihoods. They are also arbitrarily denied entry into their country,” Simon said, stressing that more than 700 victims abroad have been affected by these violations.
A serious pattern of violations is the so-called “rape by association,” in which relatives of people who are opposed to the regime, or perceived as such, are targeted solely because of their family ties. “A very serious aspect of this pattern is the impact of at least one hundred girls and boys,” Simon added.
The dismantling of key organizations and sectors of Nicaraguan civil society is also part of the report. “Any effort to organize the rural population has been dismantled. The forced takeover of universities and violations against student leaders and professors have massively affected the higher education of thousands of students,” Simon denounced, highlighting the devastating impact of these actions on the country’s development.
The report also notes that the Nicaraguan regime has suppressed fundamental rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities, who have been victims of violations of their rights to self-determination and territorial rights. In addition, Simon highlighted that the persecutions against the Catholic church and other Christian denominations have also been implicated in serious violations of the right to freedom of religion.
In his conclusion, the official warned that the situation in Nicaragua continues to worsen and that, with each passing day, “the scars on society become deeper.” Finally, he called on the international community to maintain attention on human rights in Nicaragua and reiterated the group’s previous recommendations to improve the situation in the country.
