The experts placed particular emphasis on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, media and civic assembly.
Geneva, Oct. 3.– The Nicaraguan State has a duty to comply with its international obligations to respect and guarantee fundamental freedoms, UN and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) experts urged in a joint declaration.
In several letters addressed to the Nicaraguan Government today, UN experts said the cancellation of the legal personality of hundreds of associations “represents a clear pattern of repressing civic space” and expressed concerns about attacks and unlawful interference with the freedom of the media.
In light of the closure and government co-optation of civic spaces and democratic participation in Nicaragua, experts from the UN and the IACHR raised concerns about the increasing restrictions on fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, reaching a critical point. The experts called on Nicaragua authorities to cease the repression of civic space and ensure the access to justice to the victims of human rights violations.
“(T)he State of Nicaragua must immediately cease the judicial persecution of all dissenting voices, release those imprisoned for political reasons and ensure prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into allegations of human rights violations, resulting in those responsible being held to account and effective remedies being provided to the victims”, the experts said.
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