Nicaragua, social tensions and repressions: the profound crisis of rights that has caused over 300 deaths, about 2,000 injuries, and hundreds of arbitrary arrests

ROME – The new report has a title that leaves no room for interpretation Amnesty International – A cry for justice – which recounts five years of oppression and resistance in Nicaragua and documents the serious rights crisis that the country has been facing since people took to the streets on April 18, 2018 to peacefully protest against the social reforms desired by President Daniel Ortega. The spark that ignited the demonstrations was a controversial social security reform, which aimed to increase contributions and set a tax on pensions. According to Ortega’s government, those measures were necessary to fill a deficit of over 75 million dollars which threatened the very existence of the country’s social security institution. Ortega has always denied the figures of the protests and accused American agencies of funding the marches to destabilize the country.

The tactics of repression. The work of Amnesty illustrates the main tactics that the government of President Ortega, in office since 2007, and Vice President Rosario Murillo, in office since 2017, use to close civic spaces, to silence rights defenders, activists, journalists, and any voice critical of the authorities. The goal is to govern without control and without assuming responsibility. Excessive use of force, abuse of criminal laws to criminalize activists and dissidents, attacks on civil society and forced exile: the application of these methods has led to a wide range of human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture , enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and arbitrary deprivation of citizenship.

The role of the police. According to information collected by Amnesty Internationalpolice forces systematically use excessive force, sometimes using lethal weapons in violation of international law, and often in coordination with pro-government armed groups. The police are held primarily responsible for thousands of arbitrary detentions over the past five years.

Criminal law as a weapon against dissidents. Using information provided by Nicaraguan civil society organizations and the documentation of some cases that occurred between 2018 and 2023, Amnesty International reports that the judicial system is being used to organize trials against people who have committed the only crime of being critical of of the government. In particular, criminal law is systematically used to control and repress dissidents and opponents.

The attack on activists and independent media. The file of Amnesty it also documents the acts of repression against rights organizations and self-employed journalists. Over the past five years, the government has promulgated a series of laws limiting freedom of association and expression and has subjected journalists and associations to continuous smear campaigns. The quantity of abuses perpetrated by the Nicaraguan authorities against citizens – writes the organization – is such that thousands of people have left the country and would need to receive international protection.

The case of Kevin Roberto Solis. In 2018 he was a law student and an activist of a local NGO. At the time, Kevin took part in a series of peaceful demonstrations calling for a change of course in Nicaraguan politics, especially as regards respect for rights and freedoms. He was arbitrarily arrested following a trial carried out without any guarantee: he was unable to meet regularly with his lawyer; the time, place and manner of his arrest were not recorded correctly, the day before the hearing he was locked up in a maximum security cell: an intimidating action that had nothing to do with the needs of government security, complaint Amnesty. The UN Panel of Experts also considered that the detention of Kevin Roberto Solis was arbitrary because it had no legal basis and was carried out in violation of due process rules. On February 9, 2023, the activist was released along with 221 other detainees, expelled from the country and deprived of his citizenship.

Statelessness. Like Kevin Roberto Solis, three hundred other people in Nicaragua have been deprived of their citizenship and today live as stateless people, a condition that exposes them to greater vulnerability and creates serious obstacles to the exercise of rights such as health, education and a decent work.