Open Letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council

Sign - personally or collectively - this open letter to urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to renew for two years and strengthen the mandate of the "Group of Experts on Human Rights in Nicaragua" that is investigating human rights violations committed since 2018.

I/We sign this letter in solidarity with the Nicaraguan people, who have been subjected to a serious and deepening socio-political and human rights crisis for almost five years. 

I/We sign this letter knowing that the State of Nicaragua has not taken substantial or initial measures to implement the recommendations issued by the United Nations Human Rights Council, and is determined not to cease violations of the human rights of citizens and to intensify the climate of repression, impunity and injustice. 

The excessive use of state and para-state force during the peaceful demonstrations of 2018, left at least 355 lethal victims and more than 1600 people injured. To date, no act has been carried out to clarify the facts and provide justice, nor offer measures of reparation and guarantees of non-repetition. It should be noted that the acts committed by the regime during all these years constitute crimes against humanity, in accordance with Article 7 of the Rome Statute.

On February 9, 2023, the authoritarian regime of the Ortega Murillo family arbitrarily released, deported and subsequently deprived 222 people from their nationality who were being held in state detention centers for political reasons. All of these persons and the 35 persons who are still in state custody were allegedly victims of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Continuing with this repressive pattern, on February 15, the regime declared 94 more people "traitors to the homeland" and stripped them of their nationality and citizenship rights, without any prior accusation or trial. Most of these people are in exile as a result of political persecution; however, human rights defenders who are members of this group and other people identified by the regime as dissidents are still at serious risk inside Nicaragua. 

On the other hand, the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples of Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast continue to be exposed to attacks by armed settlers (non-indigenous third parties) who seek to dispossess them of their territories. In 2022, 90 attacks and at least 32 lethal victims were documented in the Northern Caribbean Coast, and 19 arbitrary detentions of indigenous people were recorded in the context of the November municipal elections. 

Given the context and the urgency of addressing this situation, I/we call on the member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council to express their solidarity and desire for justice by voting in favor of a resolution that renews for two years the mandate of the Group of Experts on Human Rights and strengthens its intersectional approach, paying special attention to vulnerable groups such as victims of forced displacement, victims of arbitrary detention for political reasons and their families.

No more impunity. Justice for Nicaragua! #MecanismoParaNicaragua!