Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Nicaragua

A/HRC/RES/52/2View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 2Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2019–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/58/18

2025A/HRC/RES/58/18Promotion and protection of human rights in NicaraguaLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/HRC/RES/52/2Promotion and protection of human rights in NicaraguaCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/49/3Promotion and protection of human rights in NicaraguaCompare with previous version
2021A/HRC/RES/46/2Promotion and protection of human rights in NicaraguaCompare with previous version
2020A/HRC/RES/43/2Promotion and protection of human rights in NicaraguaCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 topics

Accountability Administration of Justice Civil and Political Rights Experts Human Rights Nicaragua

What does this mandate say?

22 operative paragraphs

Expresses grave concern at the deterioration of democracy, the rule of law, the separation of powers and the situation of human rights in Nicaragua, in particular with regard to the enjoyment of civil and political rights, including the right to a nationality, continuing reports of human rights violations and abuses, the lack of accountability and independent, transparent and impartial investigations since April 2018, including with respect to the killing of at least 300 individuals, the persisting bans on public demonstrations and the disproportionate and lethal use of force and acts of intimidation and harassment by the police to repress peaceful protests, and acts of violence by armed groups, including against Indigenous Peoples and Afrodescendant communities in the region of the Caribbean Coast, as well as reports of the increasing incidence of unlawful arrests and arbitrary detentions, expedited trials without due process, of harassment, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, gender-related killings, including femicides, and sexual and gender-based violence in detention and against those who visit detainees;

Expresses concern at the worsening restrictions on civic and democratic space and the repression of dissent in Nicaragua, which includes acts of intimidation, harassment and unlawful or arbitrary surveillance of human rights defenders, including defenders who are women, Indigenous, Afrodescendant and those working in environmental matters referred to as environmental human rights defenders, community and religious leaders, journalists and other media workers, peasants, students, victims of human rights violations and abuses and their family members, and individuals expressing views that are critical of the Government of Nicaragua, and urges the Government to publicly condemn and ensure accountability for any attacks or acts of intimidation or harassment, sexual and gender-based violence, and to take measures to ensure a safe and enabling environment, both online and offline, for the above-mentioned persons to carry out their work freely and without fear of persecution or reprisal;

Expresses profound concern at the dramatic increase in the number of civil society organizations, universities and independent media outlets, including those working with groups in vulnerable situations such as Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendants, women, children and adolescents, that have been forced to cease their activities owing to unduly restrictive administrative and financial constraints imposed by the legal reforms passed since 2018, and at the arbitrary cancellation of their legal registration and the impact such closures have on independent human rights monitoring and the enjoyment of human rights, online and offline, especially the rights to freedom of opinion, of expression, of association and of peaceful assembly, to privacy and to education, as set out in articles 12, 19, 20 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 17, 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and urges the Government of Nicaragua to restore the legal registration of civil society organizations, universities and independent media outlets that have been cancelled since 2018, to restore the independence and academic freedom of the private universities that have been placed under government control and that of the public universities that have been stripped of their autonomy, to return arbitrarily seized assets, including confiscated property, and to allow for the continuation of their work without any type of intimidation, threat or reprisal;

Urges the Government of Nicaragua to allow and facilitate peaceful and public demonstrations and to repeal or amend legislation that may unduly restrict human rights, including the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information, of peaceful assembly and of association, the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, the right to a nationality and the right to privacy, as recognized in international law, and that may prevent victims of human rights violations from enjoying the right to an effective remedy, extend the period of detention without formal charge or criminalize dissenting voices;

Urgently calls upon the authorities in Nicaragua to cease immediately the use of arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as of threats and other forms of intimidation or alternative measures of detention, as a means to repress dissent, to release immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners and all those who have been unlawfully, arbitrarily or unjustly detained, as well as those who have been prosecuted under ambiguous criminal laws or laws that arbitrarily restrict the civil and political rights of the Nicaraguan population, to annul their sentences and waive charges against them, to respect fair trial guarantees and due process, to ensure that conditions of detention comply with applicable human rights obligations and are consistent with standards such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), the Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering (the Méndez Principles) and the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules);

Urges the Government of Nicaragua to combat impunity and to ensure accountability and justice for victims of human rights violations, including by designing and implementing a comprehensive action plan for accountability that is inclusive and victim- and survivor-centred, by conducting independent, transparent and impartial investigations into the multiple forms of repression and violence, including in the context of the electoral process, that have been reported since April 2018 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, including alleged extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and other grave human rights violations and abuses, by ensuring that victims are provided with effective remedies and reparations and by amending the Amnesty Law of 2019;

Also urges the Government of Nicaragua to take effective measures to provide a safe and enabling environment for victims of human rights violations and their families, including political prisoners and opposition members, those with long-term injuries and disabilities, and Indigenous Peoples and Afrodescendants, particularly in the regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, including access to physical and mental health services, without discrimination;

Expresses concern at the increase in the number of femicides and other acts of sexual and gender-based violence in the country, at the lack of effective complaint mechanisms and at the cancellation of the legal status of civil society organizations that tended to victims of violence, particularly Indigenous and Afrodescendant women and girls, and urges the Government of Nicaragua to take effective measures to prevent, investigate and ensure accountability for sexual and gender-based violence, including gender-related killings, and to take a survivor-centred approach to sexual and gender-based violence and abuse;

Urges the Government of Nicaragua to take effective measures, in full and meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples and Afrodescendants and in accordance with its legal obligations, to prevent and address the increasing violence committed against them, including by conducting prompt and independent investigations into alleged attacks, killings and land seizures by armed groups;

Also urges the Government of Nicaragua to adopt effective measures to guarantee the independence, transparency and impartiality of the justice system, the electoral authorities, the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office and the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office, to cease its political interference in the judiciary, including through the arbitrary detention and expulsion of magistrates and other high-ranking judicial officials and the detention and expulsion of the former Supreme Court spokesperson, to uphold its international obligations with respect to fair trial guarantees and to adopt effective measures to guarantee the separation of powers and the re-establishment of the rule of law;

Encourages the Government of Nicaragua to adopt a time-bound action plan to implement the recommendations made by international and regional human rights mechanisms, including those made in the reports of the High Commissioner, the report of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua and by the treaty bodies, and the recommendations received during the third cycle of the universal periodic review of Nicaragua, in meaningful consultation with civil society and victims;

Calls upon the Government of Nicaragua to prevent, refrain from and publicly condemn, investigate and punish any acts of intimidation, harassment or reprisal against political leaders, journalists, religious leaders, business people, Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendants, peasants, student leaders, human rights defenders and any individual critical of the Government, including against those who cooperate or seek to cooperate with international and regional bodies, including the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights, and with regional mechanisms;

Urges the Government of Nicaragua to respect all civil and political rights, including the right to a nationality, and to guarantee the conditions for the voluntary, safe return to Nicaragua, without fear of new reprisals, intimidation or attacks, of Ms. Anexa Alfred Cunningham, and all those living in exile;

Also urges the Government of Nicaragua to adopt electoral and institutional reforms and to engage in a dialogue with all political parties, civil society and other actors in Nicaragua or in exile, with the aim of ensuring genuine elections that are free and fair, carried out in a transparent manner with independent international observers;

Decides to renew, for a period of two years, the mandate of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua as established in its resolution 49/3;

Requests the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua to submit a report to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-fifth and fifty-eighth sessions, during an interactive dialogue, and to present an oral update to the Council at its fifty-fourth and fifty-seventh sessions;

Requests the immediate operationalization of the mandate renewal, taking all administrative and legal measures to guarantee no interruption of its work, and requests the Secretary-General to provide the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua with full administrative, technical, security, legal, data-processing and logistical support and the resources necessary to enable it to carry out its mandate;

Requests the High Commissioner to strengthen monitoring and engagement, including by preparing comprehensive and gender-responsive reports on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua, building on previous reports of the High Commissioner and the reports and recommendations of Human Rights Council mechanisms and those of the treaty bodies, including on justice and due process for political dissidents and groups in vulnerable situations, and to present them to the Council at its fifty-fourth and fifty-seventh sessions, to be followed by an interactive dialogue, and to present an oral update to the Council at its fifty-third, fifty-fifth, fifty sixth and fifty-eighth sessions, and an oral update followed by an interactive dialogue before the end of 2023 and 2024;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to strengthen its engagement by continuing to analyse legislation relating to civic and democratic space, the judicial sector and amnesties with a view to providing the support necessary for Nicaragua to fulfil its human rights obligations and commitments, and to continue to seek cooperation with the authorities of Nicaragua;

Calls upon the Government of Nicaragua to cooperate fully with the Office of the High Commissioner and its Regional Office for Central America, the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, including the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, and with the relevant treaty bodies, and including during its upcoming review by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, by, inter alia, granting them unfettered, full and transparent access throughout the country and facilitating visits, including to detention facilities, and providing necessary information, and to positively consider the recommendations made in their reports and their offers of technical assistance, and the requests for country visits made by the special procedures in accordance with the standing invitation it extended in 2006;

Requests that the Office of the High Commissioner be provided with the resources necessary to continue to fulfil its technical cooperation and human rights monitoring and reporting mandates;

Decides to remain actively seized of the matter and to consider all measures available to the Human Rights Council to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights in Nicaragua and cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner.

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