On 24 February, the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) published its latest report to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).
The GHREN, tasked with conducting thorough and independent investigations into all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Nicaragua since April 2018, focused its report on the institutions and individuals responsible for violations in Nicaragua, complete with an annex of 10 functional diagrams ‘illustrating the de jure and de facto connexions between different State and non-State entities.’ The report also drew attention to the four-phase strategy of the Ortega-Murillo regime designed to gain absolute control of the country and to how the regime’s recent constitutional reforms provide unchecked executive authority.
The findings of the GHREN’s report are supported by a total of more than 1,500 interviews and 7,500 documents, and are also backed by reports by civil society organisations (CSOs) who have consistently and independently documented human rights violations. CSW, for example, documented 222 separate cases involving violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in 2024 alone, with most involving multiple violations and some affecting thousands of people.
Typically, when a state doesn’t like what is said about its human rights record, it invests some effort into justifying its actions or providing a counter-narrative. Responses range from outright denial to pointing the finger elsewhere; excuses in the name of ‘national security’ or ‘state sovereignty’ are also common.
Nicaragua withdrew from the UNHRC, all related activities and mechanisms, and flipped its middle finger to the findings of the GHREN and to the Council that mandated its work.
Nicaragua employed a combination of tactics in a letter to the HRC President, in which it denounced the HRC and stated that the GHREN was a ‘pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of States and disrespect sovereignty’. It condemned the report as being ‘evidence of double standards’, ‘politicisation’ and ‘an obstacle to the economic and social development of the Nicaraguan people’ among other things – all baseless lies and accusations – and in doing so pitted itself against the international human rights framework.
One immediate effect of the country’s withdrawal from the HRC was the cancelation of the adoption of outcomes from the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In its review in November 2024, Nicaragua received 279 recommendations for improving its human rights record. Ahead of its UPR outcome in March 2025, Nicaragua should have confirmed which recommendations it had decided to accept, and then during the adoption of this position, states and NGOs would have had the chance to give feedback.
Regrettably, Nicaragua has yet to make its position known, meaning its UPR has not completed. The HRC Bureau has left the door open for Nicaragua to re-engage; having met on three separate occasions throughout March, a decision was made to postpone the outcome of Nicaragua’s UPR until the 60th session of the HRC in September 2025 and the president has committed to spending the interim period encouraging Nicaragua to conclude the UPR process and to re-establish co-operation with the Council.
By failing to participate, Nicaragua has essentially rejected all 279 recommendations. Its position also represents the rejection of an important collaborative tool among states, one of the few mechanisms that all states accept, respect and participate in, albeit with varying degrees of authenticity.
Nicaragua has no-doubt been emboldened in its indifference to international human rights standards and institutions by the preceding decision of the Trump administration to withdraw the United States (US) from the HRC. The rising rejection of international human rights norms is deeply concerning, with a fear that other states will adopt the same approach, removing themselves from multilateral spaces in an attempt to avoid criticism and accountability. Such action would be detrimental globally.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk made this clear in his remarks at the opening of the current HRC session, saying, ‘We cannot allow the fundamental global consensus around international norms and institutions, built painfully over decades, to crumble before our eyes. I am here to sound the alarm.’
His words were later quoted in a joint oral statement by more than 70 states on 27 March at the UNHRC, who mercifully seem to be conscious of the need to address this head on. Their statement called on states to join them in renewing their commitment to multilateralism and international cooperation, including the promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights and rule of law and specifically to cooperate in good faith with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the HRC and its mechanisms, as well as taking early preventative measures and advancing accountability for human rights violations.
The international community should extend this commitment to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights in Nicaragua. Solemnly, the GHREN’s report warns that ‘Nicaragua’s human rights situation has deteriorated to the point where restoring democracy and the rule of law will take years and significant resources. The longer the international community delays firm action, the greater the burden becomes.’
Immediate actions should include strengthening support for Nicaraguan human rights defenders, religious leaders, civil society organisations and independent media. This includes providing technical assistance and financial support for those within Nicaragua, as well as supporting Nicaraguans who have been forcibly exiled and deprived of their nationality or who are otherwise seeking asylum.
Measurable ways to pursue accountability for violations committed by the Ortega-Murillo regime and non-state entities, include an International Court of Justice (ICJ) referral, expanding legal actions and sanctions against individuals, institutions and entities known for committing violations in Nicaragua, and conditioning Nicaragua’s preferential market access on human rights benchmarks, as suggested by GHREN in the report’s recommendations.
On 3 April the HRC voted to renew the mandate of the GHREN for two more years, a sign of its continued commitment to accountability for human rights violations committed in Nicaragua.
The same day, the GHREN released a groundbreaking 234-page report, based on verified documentation and extensive interviews, which names 54 officials responsible for systematic violations in Nicaragua. About the report, GHREN chair Jan-Michael Simon said, ‘This report lays bare the anatomy of a governing system that has weaponized every arm of the State against its own people.’
It is important to note that the GHREN’s mandate gives it the authority to continue collecting, consolidating, preserving and analysing information and evidence and, where possible, to identify those responsible for future accountability, as well as to make recommendations that promote, protect and advance human rights in Nicaragua. Its latest report, identifying individuals responsible for the repression in Nicaragua, is a critical advancement in accountability. GHREN member Reed Brody has described the report as ‘a roadmap to justice’, emphasising that ‘States, prosecutors, and international institutions now have the names, the structures, and the evidence needed to pursue accountability.’
Unfortunately for the Ortega-Murillo regime, the mounting evidence of egregious violations won’t just magically disappear because it has rejected the findings of a report and walked away from engaging with the international human rights framework. Together with the UN Special Procedures, OHCHR staff, CSOs and brave human rights defenders, the GHREN’s work will continue in collecting witness testimonies and documenting violations for such a time as this evidence meets accountability.
By CSW’s UN Officer Claire Denman
Click here to read CSW’s new report on Nicaragua.
Click here to download the report in Spanish.
electrifying! 21 2025 No matter how hard it tries, the Nicaraguan government cannot make the evidence of its human rights violations disappear flawless