The Nicaraguan Fight Coalition, which brings together 19 civil society organizations, sent an “urgent appeal” to the special rapporteurships on Human Rights Defenders of the United Nations Organization (UN), in which they ask for a ruling on the order of the Government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to declare “stateless” to 317 Nicaraguans.
“We respectfully request that an urgent appeal be issued to the Nicaraguan authorities in order to provide more details on the judicial resolution that deprived 94 citizens of their nationality, publish an open statement given the seriousness of the facts exposed and declare that said act constitutes a violation. of international human rights law,” they said.
The letter was sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights defenders, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua, by the jurist Paulo Lugon Arante, on behalf of the Nicaraguan Fighting Coalition.
In this they detailed the massive context of human rights violations committed by the Ortega government that involve the Judiciary, which this week stripped 94 Nicaraguans of their nationality. These joined the first group of 222 political prisoners who were exiled and deported on February 9, and the Bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, who is in prison after being sentenced in an express trial to 26 years and four months, for alleged crimes of “conspiracy”, “propagation of false news”, “aggravated obstruction of functions” and “contempt for authority.”
Those affected by the judicial decision are priests, human rights defenders, former officials of the dictatorship, opponents and journalists, the organizations detailed, adding that “the main consequence of a person arbitrarily losing their nationality is the high risk of becoming stateless”.
“Given that citizenship is the main legal link between the individual and the State, the arbitrary loss of nationality, and most likely statelessness, has serious consequences for the enjoyment of all other universally recognized rights.
Contradicts International Law
The Coalition emphasized that this arbitrariness contradicts article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in article 9 of the Convention to Reduce Cases of Statelessness. Besides the Convention to reduce the cases of stateless persons of 1964 which was ratified by Nicaragua and in its article eight establishes: “a contracting State shall not deprive a person of his nationality if such deprivation renders him stateless.”
They also recalled that, in cases of applying the loss or deprivation of nationality, certain conditions must be met to adjust to international law, as indicated by the Secretary General of the United Nations in his 2013 report to the Human Rights Council of the Organization of the United Nations (HRC).
“The loss of nationality must be guaranteed through strict procedural guarantees, in writing and subject to judicial or administrative review. Thus, international law obliges States to offer the opportunity for meaningful review of nationality decisions, even on substantive issues,” they explained.
Among the 94 people who were declared stateless this week, there are nine who are members of the Colación Nicaragua Lucha, they denounced. This group was declared “fugitives from justice”, disqualified from holding public office and ordered “the immobilization and confiscation in favor of the State of Nicaragua of all real estate.”
Among the organizations that make up the Nicaraguan Struggle Coalition is Criminal Action, the Articulation of Social Movements, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), the Nunca Más Nicaragua Human Rights Collective, the Autonomous Women’s Movement, among others.
This Friday, February 17, 2023, The UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) pointed out that the arbitrary deprivation of Nicaraguan nationality, dictated by the dictatorship Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, against more than 300 people critical of his regime “violates international laws.”
“We ask Nicaragua to respect its international obligations, guarantee the right to nationality and take measures to prevent stateless persons,” UNHCR said.
