Caribbean & Central America - January 2023

In early December, various human rights groups presented a report titled ‘Expediente ONG Nicaragua’ detailing the impact of the actions by the government led by President Daniel Ortega in shutting down NGOs in Nicaragua, in line with its dismantling of democratic institutions and stifling of dissent. Here we review its findings.

The report was presented in Costa Rica on 6 December by Colectivo de Derechos Humanos Nicaragua Nunca Más (CDHNN+, a human rights group founded by Nicaraguans living in exile in Costa Rica), Fundación del Río (a local environmental NGO), and Fundación Popol Nah (an NGO promoting democracy and citizen participation). Between 2007, when President Ortega took office, and November 2022, the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) government closed down 3,142 organisations out of 7,227 which it declared to be active in 2018, according to Fundación del Río director Amaru Ruiz. Ruiz points out that as a result over 42% of civic space that existed prior to 2018 has been restricted as a result.

The Ortega government has previously justified the closures of NGOs and similar institutions on the grounds that these failed to comply with their administrative duties and regulations related to money laundering and terrorist financing. This has been made possible through recent legislation such as the much-criticised foreign agents law, approved in October 2020, which requires organisations and individuals that receive money from foreign governments and institutions to register as ‘foreign agents’ with the interior ministry [SSR-20-11].

According to the ‘Expediente ONG Nicaragua’ report, of the 3,142 organisations shut down, 1,614 were Nicaraguan NGOs (of which 1,578 closed in 2022) while 328 were international NGOs (of which 322 closed last year). The report highlights that in addition to these, 287 religious associations had been shut down (of which 285 closed in 2022) along with 157 women’s organisations (155 closed in 2022), 82 cultural associations (of which 81 were shut in 2022), 60 medical associations (with 47 shut in 2022) and 54 independent media (29 shut down in 2022). Meanwhile eight private universities were closed, of which seven were shut in 2022, along with international universities (all shut in 2022) and six political parties (two closed in 2008, three in 2021 and one in 2022).

The report also highlights that 41 of the organisations which were shut down had their assets confiscated and offices raided. Lawyer Carlos Guadamuz of CDHNN+ explained that the confiscation of nine (unnamed) NGOs generated nearly US$4m for the Nicaraguan government. The report also highlights that 50,000 people annually are losing access to basic services due to the closures.

Electoral anomalies

CDHNN+, Fundación del Río and Fundación Popol Nah also highlight that the government’s suppression of freedom of association is combined with explicit violation of democratic electoral processes. It cites local citizens’ group Urnas Abiertas, which deployed over 1,700 independent observers in the recent 6 November municipal elections, as saying that it identified 5,821 election anomalies. These include coercion in voting, indication of electoral fraud, and presence of voters from different electoral regions at the polls. In the election the FSLN won all 153 of the country’s municipalities, up from the 137 it won in the previous municipal election in 2017.

Gov’t in contempt of Corte-IDH

On 29 November, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Corte-IDH) declared the Nicaraguan government in contempt of court for ignoring its rulings on political prisoners. The Corte-IDH is an arm of the Organization of American States (OAS), from which the Ortega government announced its withdrawal in November 2021. This followed the OAS’s condemnation of the election that month which produced a re-election victory for Ortega but was widely disregarded as a sham. According to a Corte-IDH statement, the Ortega government has failed to observe rulings issued in 2021 (24 June, 9 September, 4 and 22 November) and 2022 (25 May and 4 October) regarding the fate of 46 detained Nicaraguans. Corte-IDH, which highlights that the Nicaraguan government failed to send representatives to its last session on the issue on 9 November, considers them political prisoners. Human rights groups tally at least 219 political prisoners in Nicaragua.