452 Nicaraguans Stripped of Citizenship in Push for Dynastic Rule, UN Experts Say

United Nations human rights experts issued a report on Wednesday declaring that Nicaragua operates as a full dictatorship aimed at establishing permanent dynastic rule. The group, which has investigated the country since April 2018, stated there are reasonable grounds to believe crimes against humanity have been committed by the government.

Jan-Michael Simon, chair of the expert group appointed by the Human Rights Council, told reporters in Geneva that the current administration has one clear objective. He noted that Daniel Ortega stated four months ago that Nicaragua would never hold elections again, solidifying the regime's grip on power.

The report details how the husband-and-wife leaders, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, have targeted opposition figures through arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances. Since the 2018 mass protests, which triggered a crackdown that killed hundreds, the government has imprisoned or exiled adversaries, journalists, and religious leaders. The state has also shuttered more than 5,000 organizations, primarily religious groups, and forced thousands of citizens to flee the country.

Reed Brody, a member of the expert group, pointed to the legal framework adopted last year, which places the legislature and judiciary under the direct control of the co-presidents. He said the ruling Sandinista Party maintains total control over police, courts, and prisons, leaving no space for independent press or critical non-governmental organizations.

A specific mechanism of this control involves stripping citizens of their nationality. Brody reported that at least 452 individuals deemed political opponents have been declared traitors and stripped of their citizenship since February 2023. These individuals include former Sandinista leaders, a former vice president, and all presidential candidates from the 2021 election, leaving them stateless.

The Nicaraguan government responded by calling the Human Rights Council obsolete and interfering. Officials accused neo-colonialist powers of using human rights as a tool for political aggression, a narrative the state frequently applies to critics it believes work for the United States. Nicaragua is not a party to the International Criminal Court, though the experts urged other nations to bring a case against the country to the International Court of Justice for violating the convention on statelessness.