Nicaragua’s Deepening Rights Crisis Prompts Urgent Call for OAS Action on Democracy

The statement links the abuses to a growing concentration of power and the dismantling of institutional checks and balances and civic space.

Nicaragua's deepening human rights crisis is bringing an urgent appeal before foreign ministers gathering on 2 October, with two human rights bodies calling for decisions that put people's safety and democratic rights at the centre of regional diplomacy. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) want ministers from Organization of American States (OAS) member countries to prioritise human rights, democracy, the restoration of the rule of law and accountability in their discussions about Nicaragua.

Families Face Disappearances and Growing Risks in Detention

More than eight years after the crisis began in April 2018, the two bodies say they continue to document widespread and systematic abuses, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture, deaths in state custody, property confiscations and arbitrary deprivation of nationality. Their warning draws particular attention to the growing number of detained people whose whereabouts remain unknown, leaving families without answers about where their relatives are being held or whether they are safe. People who remain in state custody face extreme risks to their lives and physical integrity, according to the statement.

The IACHR and GHREN describe enforced disappearances and other severe violations as part of continuing repression against people perceived as government opponents, demanding that these abuses stop immediately. Their appeal calls for the immediate and unconditional release of everyone detained on political grounds, together with the disclosure, without delay, of the fate and whereabouts of all disappeared persons. For affected families, these demands concern the most basic information and protections: knowing what has happened to a loved one and securing their freedom and safety.

Constitutional Changes Tighten the Government's Grip

The statement links the abuses to a growing concentration of power and the dismantling of institutional checks and balances and civic space. The 2025 constitutional reform eliminated the separation of powers and established a "co-presidency" with a six-year mandate. A further reform, approved in its first legislative session just one year later, proposes extending that mandate to seven years with the possibility of renewal and giving constitutional status to arbitrary restrictions against people labelled "coup plotters" or "traitors to the homeland."

Both bodies say these changes misuse the constitutional order to keep the government in power, exclude political alternatives and remove the conditions needed for free, genuine and competitive elections. They identify the official announcement that elections are not expected in 2027 as a particularly troubling sign of weakening democratic guarantees and the rule of law. Their assessment is explicit: current conditions fail to meet international standards, and the essential elements of democracy do not exist, because credible elections depend on fundamental freedoms, human rights and effective public participation.

Repression Reaches Beyond Nicaragua's Borders

Exile has not ended the danger for Nicaraguans facing repression, according to the two bodies, which report intensified surveillance, threats, harassment and violence targeting people abroad, their relatives and organisations supporting them. These actions create serious security challenges for other countries in the region. The statement calls for an end to transnational repression and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, effective protection for people in exile and the restoration of rights that have been arbitrarily restricted or revoked.

The appeal asks OAS member states to use available mechanisms to help restore democratic institutions and full respect for human rights, acting under the OAS Charter, the Inter-American Democratic Charter and international and regional human rights instruments. It invokes the Inter-American system's principle of collective guarantee, framing protection as a shared responsibility. Its demands include reopening civic space, stopping the systematic closure of civil society organisations, independent media, universities and religious institutions, and returning their assets, so people can organise, speak, study and practise their faith freely.