IACHR: Ortega Regime’s Repression Reached its Own Supporters

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) confirmed in its 2024 Annual Report that the repression under Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has extended even to their own supporters, who over the past year have been subjected to arbitrary detention, unjustified dismissals, and restrictions on entering and leaving the country.

The report, which once again includes a special chapter on the human rights situation in Nicaragua, states that “the repressive regime established in the country has gone beyond political opposition or their families, affecting government supporters, public officials, and the general population.”

These people, according to the IACHR, have been victims of measures such as: arbitrary detentions, job dismissals or removals from their positions, restrictions on entering and leaving the country, among others.

The report emphasizes that the widespread repression aims to “eliminate any space for exercising individual freedoms and autonomy under a climate of fear, surveillance, and persecution.”

“Grave and Systematic” Violations

The IACHR report also details the “grave and systematic” human rights violations that continue taking place in Nicaragua. These include arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, serious detention conditions and acts of torture, deprivation of nationality, prohibition of nationals from returning to the country, banishment, religious persecution and severe restrictions on civic space.

They also identified new arbitrary actions aimed at perpetuating the dictatorial couple’s hold on power. One key example is the approval of a reform to Nicaragua’s Political Constitution, which established a model of “direct democracy” that concentrates power in the Presidency of the Republic.

This model “eliminates the principle of separation of powers by further subordinating the legislative, judicial and electoral bodies to the control of the Executive; in addition, it grants discretionary powers to the Executive Branch to remove people from public office who do not align with the “fundamental principles” of the Constitution,” the IACHR states.

Other “deeply concerning developments” noted by the Commission include the shrinking and restructuring of the Supreme Court, the Executive’s power to arbitrarily strip Nicaraguans of their nationality, and the confiscation of their property.

The IACHR also points to mass dismissals in state institutions, the de facto takeover of the judiciary, the approval of new laws and reforms that aim to expand repression beyond national borders, and an intensification of repression during the Caribbean Coast elections.

Dismantling Civil Society

On the other hand, the IACHR warned that “the closure of civic and democratic space in Nicaragua remains one of the most serious scenarios in the region”. They also note that in 2024 alone, over 5,000 organizations were shut down, out of approximately 7,200 registered before 2018, effectively amounting to the near-total dismantling of organized civil society.

At the same time, the reforms approved in this area would eliminate any possibility of autonomy for the constitution of new organizations.

In addition, the systematic repression against the Catholic Church, which has extended to other religious expressions, reflecting the regime’s intention to eliminate any space for thought or expression beyond its control.

Finally, the IACHR underscores the ongoing impunity surrounding the grave human rights violations committed since 2018, within a context of unchecked Executive power and the breakdown of the rule of law.

Since 2018, the repression of the Ortega regime has left 355 people killed, more than 2000 people arbitrarily detained, more than 2000 people injured during social protests, more than 450 people stripped of their nationality, as well as the closure of more than 5000 civil society organizations. In addition, between 2018 and 2023, more than 250 000 people would have been forcibly displaced to other countries.