The UN has ruled that Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega and his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo have seriously violated citizens' rights, which amounts to crimes against humanity.
This accusation is also supported by senior commanders of the Nicaraguan National Police and other state entities under Ortega's command, according to findings presented by a group of United Nations human rights experts that was created to investigate and gather evidence of the situation in the country since the 2018 citizen protests. The group of experts has called on the international community to impose sanctions on the institutions or individuals involved.
These crimes against humanity include all kinds of abuse, such as extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, torture, sexual violence, as well as an extreme level of censorship, which prevents citizens from participating in public affairs, expressing themselves, assembling, or exercising their freedom of conscience and religion.
The group of human rights experts said that the crisis in Nicaragua could get worse and warned of "a humanitarian crisis." In the experts' opinion, the objective of the Nicaraguan government is to eliminate "any opposing voice in the country":
These violations and abuses are being perpetrated in a widespread and systematic manner for political reasons, constituting the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment, torture, including sexual violence, deportation, and politically motivated persecution,
Extrajudicial executions and violations
The report identified a pattern of extrajudicial executions carried out by National Police officers and members of pro-government armed groups acting in a joint and coordinated manner during the protests that took place between April 18 and September 23, 2018. The government obstructed any investigation into these and other deaths.
The report also states that police and National Penitentiary System agents and members of pro-government armed groups committed acts of physical and psychological torture, including sexual and gender-based violence, while apprehending, questioning, and detaining their opponents.
In addition, the report concluded that the government used arbitrary detention as a tool to silence critics. Many arrests were characterized by excessive use of force by police and violence at the hands of pro-government armed groups. Many people were arrested without warrants and put into solitary confinement.
Withdrawal of nationality
The report states that the situation continues to worsen. The UN recalled that in February, the Nicaraguan authorities withdrew nationality from 222 people of various profiles and deported them from the country, accusing them of being "traitors to the homeland." That same month, the Court of Appeals of Managua declared 94 other persons residing in Nicaragua and abroad as traitors and withdrew their nationality, and ordered their assets to be confiscated and given to the State.
"The group concluded that President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo have implemented patterns of these crimes, and continue to do so as of the date of this report," states the report which was sealed earlier this week.
