UN Experts: Nicaragua's Leaders Run a 'Full Dictatorship', With Reasonable Grounds to Believe Crimes Against Humanity Were Committed
The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on October 28 that Nicaragua's co-presidents, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, have established a dictatorship and that there are 'reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed.' The group presented its latest findings to the UN General Assembly's Third Committee.
'What we are looking at is a full dictatorship, and that dictatorship has one clear goal: permanent dynastic rule,' said Jan-Michael Simon, the group's chair. 'Arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, political persecution, the stripping of nationality. These are not goals in themselves. They are tools, tools designed to remove every obstacle, real or imagined, so that power stays permanently in the hands of one family: Ortega-Murillo.' Simon added that four months ago Ortega said publicly that Nicaragua will never hold elections again. Fellow member Reed Brody discussed the group's findings on transnational surveillance and intimidation and the situation of Nicaraguans in exile.
The group has investigated allegations of human rights violations in Nicaragua since the April 2018 protest crackdown, which the government denies. The experts called on member states not to allow the situation to become normalized and urged states to stand with Nicaragua's neighbouring countries, which are directly confronting the human rights consequences of the regime.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 尼加拉瓜马那瓜老主教座堂。OswaldoFlores88 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The old cathedral of Managua, Nicaragua. Photo by OswaldoFlores88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
