The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR
OHCHR Press Conference: Launch of the First Report of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua 02MAR2023
Crimes against humanity likely committed in Nicaragua, says independent rights probe
Crimes against humanity in Nicaragua that have held the population “hostage” have likely been committed by pro-Government groups and sanctioned at the highest level since 2018, UN-appointed independent rights investigators said on Thursday.
Unveiling their findings which are to be delivered to the Human Rights Council on Friday, the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua urged the international community to impose sanctions on those responsible.
The experts concluded that President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo “put into practice these crimes” which continue today.
“Based on this investigation, we can conclude that widespread and systematic human rights violations that amount to crimes against humanity - and are motivated by political reasons - have been committed against civilians by the Nicaraguan Government since 2018,” said Jan Simon, Chair of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua.
He told journalists: “They have been weaponizing the justice system, weaponizing the legislative function, weaponizing the executive function of the State against the population.”
From testimonies gathered, the expert report identified a pattern of extrajudicial executions carried out by agents of the National Police and members of pro-government armed groups.
It is believed that they acted “in a joint and coordinated manner” during anti-government protests between April and September 2018.
“These violations continue to be committed today,” Mr. Simon continued, who noted that the result was Nicaraguans “living in fear” of the Government.
“The scale you’re looking at it is in terms of executions… is more than 100; if it comes to torture, we would come to several hundred (or) even more and if it comes to arbitrary detentions, this goes well beyond this number. Given then the other violations under political persecution, (it comes to) several thousand.”
Asked to confirm the scope of the investigation, co-author Ángela María Buitrago explained that information had been calculated and corroborated on extrajudicial executions, torture and preventive detentions. “There is an unlimited number of elements that allow us to compile this report and its contents about the people who have been threatened,” she said.
The report - which called on the Government to release all persons arbitrarily deprived of their liberty immediately, also indicated that agents of the National Police and the National Penitentiary System and members of pro-government armed groups “committed acts of physical and psychological torture, including sexual and gender-based violence” during arrests, interrogation and detention of opponents.
Highlighting how the Nicaraguan authorities had managed to carry out its terrifying campaign of rights violations, Mr. Simon insisted that they were “not isolated incidents, but the product of the deliberate dismantling of democratic institutions and destruction of civic and democratic space”
He added: “These violations and abuses are being perpetrated in a widespread and systematic manner for political reasons, constituting the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment, torture, including sexual violence, deportation and persecution on political grounds.”
ends
STORY: Nicaragua Crimes Against Humanity – Rights Experts
TRT: 2 mins 35s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SPANISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 2 March 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a bright day.
- Wide shot, press conference, podium speakers to rear, journalists seated.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jan Simon, Chair of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua: “Based on this investigation, we can conclude that widespread and systematic human rights violations that amount to crimes against humanity - and are motivated by political reasons - have been committed against civilians by the Nicaraguan Government since 2018.”
- Wide, view of press conference from podium.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jan Simon, Chair of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua: “They have been weaponizing the justice system, weaponizing the legislative function, weaponizing the executive function of the State against the population.”
- Medium, press room, journalists and podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (Spanish) — Ángela María Buitrago, member of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua: « En términos concretos, sٌí hay, digamos, una aproximación a cifras que han sido también aumentadas o, particularmente corroboradas con otros elementos y digamos que en ejecuciones extrajudiciales, en torturas , en detenciones preventivas hay un sin número de elementos que permite dar el informe en su contenido sobre las personas que han sido objeto de estos actos » (“In concrete terms, it is possible to have approximate numbers, that have been calculated and corroborated by a number of other elements, and these other elements are extrajudicial execution, torture and preventive detentions. There is an unlimited number of elements that allow us to compile this report and its contents about the people who have been threatened.”)
- Medium-wide, press room journalists, TV camera operator.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jan Simon, Chair of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua: “These violations continue to be committed today. The violations include extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, torture, arbitrary deprivation of nationality and violations of the right to remain in one's own country.”
- Wide, press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jan Simon, Chair of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua: “They are not isolated incidents, but the product of the deliberate dismantling of democratic institutions and destruction of civic and democratic space.”
- Medium-wide, press room, journalist standing to take photo with mobile.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jan Simon, Chair of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua: “These violations and abuses are being perpetrated in a widespread and systematic manner for political reasons, constituting the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment, torture, including sexual violence, deportation and persecution on political grounds.”
- Medium-wide, journalists following proceedings, seated.
- Medium-wide, journalists following proceedings, seated in front of interpreters’ booths.
- Medium, TV cameras and technician in foreground, screen featuring rights expert to rear.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNMAS , WHO
Just how many people are still trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher?
That’s the burning question for relatives of the many thousands of people believed to still be there, since paramilitary fighters overran the regional capital of North Darfur last month, after a 500-day siege.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on the ongoing violence in the occupied WestBank.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, the UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk made the following remarks on the situation in El-Fasher, Sudan.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC
UN Human Rights Council holds special session on Sudan as mass atrocities reported in El Fasher
The UN Human Rights Council convened an emergency session on Friday on the situation in and around El Fasher, Sudan, following reports of mass killings in the North Darfur capital. States passed a resolution that will mandate an investigation into likely mass atrocities during the capture of El Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 26 October.
1
1
2
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Sudan: Women’s bodies ‘a crime scene’ as tens of thousands flee El Fasher atrocities – UN Women
In war-torn Sudan, rape is being systematically used as a weapon and simply being a woman is “a strong predictor” of hunger, violence and death, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).