Context

Since 2018, Nicaragua has witnessed a human rights crisis characterized by systematic persecution against dissenting voices. The police, in coordination with armed pro-government groups, suppressed mass anti-government protests that left a balance of at least 328 dead, more than 2,000 injured and hundreds of detainees. Authorities reported that 21 police officers died in the context of the demonstrations.

Hundreds of demonstrators remained detainees for months, and many were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, such as electric shocks, violent beatings, nail removal, suffocation and sexual violence. Criminal proceedings against demonstrators were marked by serious violations of due process guarantees and others fundamental rights. To date, no police officers have been convicted in connection with these abuses.

Currently, at least 45 people They remain Detained for political reasons in Nicaragua, of which 37 are men and 8 women. The profiles of these people reflect the wide repression exercised by the regime, which includes rangers, indigenous leaders, political opponents, religious laymen and State workers. This diversity evidences the generalized social control that is imposed throughout the country.

The practice of enforced disappearances continue to worsen, with cases in which family members have not been able to see their loved ones for months. The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo is vicious with relatives of the exiled people who are in Nicaragua, intensifying harassment and threats of property confiscation in recent weeks.