Human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity have been carried out in Nicaragua, a group of UN independent experts have told the Human Rights Council. To investigate these crimes fully, the Colectivo 46/2 coalition calls for the two-years renewal of UN Human Rights Council resolution on Nicaragua.
Alexandra Salazar is a human rights defender from Nicaragua, working for the organisation Unidad de Defensa Jurídica (UDJ), which has been supporting political prisoners in the country since 2018.
During a Human Rights Council debate with High Commissioner Volker Türk on the human rights impact of recent municipal elections in Nicaragua, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and 33 organisations, including from the Colectivo 46/2 coalition, launched a global call for the two-years renewal of the Council’s resolution on Nicaragua.
'Colectivo 46/2' has published an Evaluation Benchmark on the implementation by the Nicaraguan government of Human Rights Council resolution 49/3 on the human rights situation in the country.
The two independent UN anti-torture expert bodies, the Committee Against Torture and its Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, publicly 'deplored Nicaragua's refusal to cooperate', and publish confidential report in an unprecedented move. Over the past year, Nicaragua has refused to undergo reviews by six UN committees on torture, women's rights, racial discrimination, civil and political, and economic, social and cultural rights.
Nicaragua is once again a key topic of concern on the agenda of the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The newly-appointed ‘Group of Experts’ created by the Council in March begins its investigation of serious human rights violations in the country, as international condemnation remains strong.
The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted today during its 49th session, by 20 votes in favour, a resolution that establishes for one year a "Group of Experts on Human Rights" with a mandate to investigate and seek accountability for serious human rights violations in Nicaragua
As the country’s rights crisis worsens, UN High Commissioner's reporting, and documentation by civil society organisations, point to the urgent need for efforts to lay the groundwork for future accountability processes in Nicaragua. At its ongoing 49th session, the Human Rights Council must seize the opportunity to create a UN-mandated mechanism to investigate serious violations, identify perpetrators, and preserve the evidence.
Civil society organisations have published an assessment detailing the wilful inaction of the State of Nicaragua, which has failed to address gross human rights violations as urged by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution 46/2.
"States have the obligation to respect defenders, to provide them with security, to heed their calls and to consider that we are people who support the most vulnerable sectors of society, and that this is a contribution to democratic life."
