UN experts denounce that Nicaragua extends repression beyond its borders
A report released in Geneva and Panama claims that the Managua regime "has persecuted thousands of Nicaraguans abroad," many of whom fled the country after the bloody crackdown on protests in 2018.
Daniel Ortega, president of Nicaragua
(AFP) A UN panel of experts denounced Tuesday that Nicaragua's regime has extended repression to critics of the dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo (his wife and co-president) outside the country's borders.
Ortega, a 79-year-old former guerrilla in power since 2007, and Murillo, 74, increased control against opponents following the 2018 protests that left more than 300 dead, according to the UN, and considered by Managua as a Washington-sponsored coup attempt.
In a report released in Geneva and Panama, the experts said the Managua regime "has persecuted thousands of Nicaraguans abroad," many of whom fled the country following the bloody crackdown on the 2018 protests.
"The Government of Nicaragua is extending its repression against perceived opponents beyond its own borders [...] as part of a growing campaign to silence critics in exile," the group said in a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The group documented allegations of attacks against exiled Nicaraguans, including the murder of retired Major Roberto Samcam in Costa Rica last June.
The 66-year-old military officer was a strong critic of the Ortega and Murillo couple, accused of establishing a "family dictatorship" in Nicaragua.
"The harm suffered by exiled Nicaraguans is not the result of an isolated event," warned the group's president, Jan-Michael Simon, in a statement.
"Their entire lives are systematically dismantled, beginning with their uprooting and the erosion of their legal identity, resulting in economic collapse, social isolation and pervasive surveillance."
Hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans in exile
"A climate of fear has spread among the Nicaraguan diaspora, as no place in the world seems safe for Nicaraguans who oppose Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo," said Reed Brody, an expert with the group.
"An invisible hand is chasing exiles wherever they go," he added.
Nicaragua resigned from the UN Human Rights Council last February 28 in rejection of a report by the expert group that accused the Ortega and Murillo government of having a "machinery of repression."
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