MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Nicaraguan authorities has dismantled the final remaining checks and balances and was “systematically executing a method to cement complete management of the nation by extreme human rights violations,” a panel of United Nations consultants warned Wednesday.
The report by human rights consultants is the most recent and strongest rebuke of the federal government of President Daniel Ortega and first woman and now co-president Rosario Murillo, which has for years cracked down on dissent and civil society.
The crackdown began with violent government repression of 2018 protests. Since then, the Nicaraguan authorities “has intentionally remodeled the nation into an authoritarian state,” the consultants mentioned. The crackdown has compelled tens of 1000’s of individuals to flee the nation in exile.
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“The state and the ruling Sandinista occasion have just about fused right into a unified machine of repression with home and transnational affect,” mentioned Jan Simon, chair of the U.N. Group of Specialists, in an announcement. “Ortega and Murillo function a large intelligence machine, surveilling the inhabitants and choosing the targets for the violation of rights, performing as ‘the eyes and ears’ that permit (the Nicaraguan authorities) to acquire and preserve complete management over individuals.”
The Nicaraguan authorities didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The consultants mentioned that the final democratic blow was dealt last month with a constitutional reform handed by the Nicaraguan congress, which is firmly managed by Ortega and Murillo’s Sandinista occasion.
The reform, which entered into force on Feb. 18, successfully put all branches of presidency underneath the ability of the presidency, and likewise formally made Ortega and Murillo “co-presidents,” which might assure presidential succession for Murillo and their household.
The reform additionally expanded the presidential time period to 6 years from 5 in a transfer that additional consolidated the household’s agency grip on energy.
The report by UN consultants mentioned that along with authorities management, Ortega and Murillo have expanded their use of arbitrary detention, compelled expulsions, confiscation of personal property and stripping their opposition of Nicaraguan citizenship.
The consultants mentioned they compiled an inventory of individuals they believed have been accountable for the repression, which will probably be shared with the Nicaraguan authorities and made public by the UN Human Rights Council. Additionally they urged the worldwide group to take authorized motion and increase focused sanctions in opposition to these people, and supply better protections for Nicaraguan exiles.
