Thank you Mr President,

CSW is disappointed but not surprised at Nicaragua’s withdrawal from the Human Rights Council and its failure to engage fully with the UPR process.

The government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo will accept no criticism of the severe crackdown on human rights it has carried out over the past seven years, not only from members of the international community, but also from independent voices within the country itself.

In failing to respond to any of the 279 recommendations it received, Nicaragua has essentially rejected all of them.

This includes 23 recommendations calling on the State Party to cease arbitrary detention and release all those currently subjected to it,¹ including political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists and individuals detained for exercising the freedoms of expression, religion or belief, association, or peaceful assembly.

Among those the government must release immediately is Protestant Pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López, a political prisoner who is serving a 23-year sentence on trumped up charges and is experiencing serious health challenges due to complications from inadequately managed diabetes.

CSW also calls on the government to provide urgent proof of life for Roman Catholic lay leaders Carmen María Sáenz Martínez and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda, who have been detained incommunicado since 10 August 2024.

The Nicaraguan government has also chosen to ignore recommendations to cease all forms of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,² to restore citizenship to all those who have been arbitrarily deprived of it,³ and to reinstate legal status to all civil society organisations from whom it has been arbitrarily revoked.⁴

CSW calls on Nicaragua to urgently reconsider its implicit rejection of these recommendations, and all others calling on the government to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We also call on states with whom Nicaragua has cultivated strong relationships – such as China, Cuba, Russia and Venezuela – to impress upon Nicaragua the importance of meaningful engagement in the UPR process, and to refrain from defending or supporting a government which the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua has rightly concluded is responsible for severe human rights violations which in some cases amount to crimes against humanity.⁵

Finally, in light of Nicaragua’s continued refusal to engage in good faith with this Council and other international bodies such as the Organisation of American States, we call on Member States to seek creative and effective ways to support and strengthen independent Nicaraguan voices, including those of religion and belief groups, identifying ways to reinforce the links between those in exile and those who remain in the country so that they can work together for the restoration of democracy and respect for fundamental rights.