Nicaragua
Tuesday 26.1.2021 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
Onslaught of restrictive legislation continues in Nicaragua
On 21st December 2020, Nicaragua’s National Assembly approved a law that may prevent opposition candidates from participating in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for November 2021. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 16.12.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
Laws on Foreign Agents and Cybercrimes restrict civic space further in Nicaragua
On 15th October 2020, Nicaragua’s lawmakers approved the “Foreign Agents Law” which expands government powers to control and muzzle civil society. Read more
Monday 28.9.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
Proposed Foreign Agents Law would expand government control over civil society in Nicaragua
On 22nd September 2020, legislators of Nicaragua’s governing party presented a bill that would require individuals, businesses and civil society organisations that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents”. Read more | Read in Spanish
Thursday 6.8.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlights continuing human rights violations
At the 44th session of the Human Rights Council on 2nd July 2020, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, provided an oral update on Nicaragua. Bachelet said her office continues to document persistent human rights violations against those who the government perceives as opponents, including human rights defenders, journalists, social leaders and former political detainees. Read more
Monday 15.6.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
At least 37 political prisoners in Nicaragua have presented COVID-19 symptoms say CSOs
Human rights and press freedom organisations have denounced that civic space constraints in Nicaragua continue during the pandemic, taking new forms. Lack of reliable information and even disinformation campaigns have been accompanied by continued harassment of defenders, journalists, critical voices and even doctors providing information on COVID-19. Read more
Friday 29.5.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
Declining health of convicted HRD concerns family members and human rights organisations
On 30th April 2020, Karla Vanessa Escobar and Wilfredo Brenes Domínguez, two former political prisoners, were detained and charged with alleged drug and arms possession. Read more
Wednesday 20.5.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
Increased police repression on second anniversary of mass mobilisation
18th April 2020 marked two years since nationwide socioeconomic protests and their brutal repression that launched an enduring a human rights and political crisis in Nicaragua. In the context of the crisis, at least 328 people have been killed, around 2,000 injured and over 700 detained. Over these two years, more than 100,000 people in Nicaragua have sought asylum abroad, reportedly fleeing persecution and human rights abuses, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Around this date, there have been several reports of increased repression of political dissidence. Read more | Read in Spanish
Monday 20.4.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
CSOs denounce lack of public information on COVID-19, putting people at risk in Nicaragua
Over 100 civil society organisations in the Plataforma Nicaragüense de Redes de ONG (Nicaraguan Platform of NGO Networks) warned that the lack of coherent response from the government in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has left the country’s population vulnerable. Read more
Wednesday 8.4.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
Crackdown on feminist rallies and harassment of former political prisoners in Nicaragua
Freedom House’s “Freedom in the World” report, an annual study of political rights and civil liberties worldwide, continued to classify Nicaragua as "Not Free". Published on 4th March 2020, the annual report notes that Nicaragua had one of the largest declines in these rights and freedoms in the past 10 years, behind only Venezuela in the Americas. Read more
Friday 6.3.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
Crackdown against political dissent deepens in Nicaragua
On 26th January 2020, activist María Esperanza Sánchez was detained under accusations of narcotrafficking. The arrest took place in a safe house where Sánchez had been living because of the constant siege of her home in Matagalpa. Read more
