UN Exposes Repression: Ortega's Regime Under Fire

The UN has identified 54 Nicaraguan government officials responsible for human rights abuses within Daniel Ortega's regime. The report highlights the systematic repression since 2018, implicating military leaders and ruling party members in serious offenses, including arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings.

The United Nations has named 54 officials from Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's government, accusing them of serious human rights violations. The officials, including military officers and ruling party members, are implicated in a systematic campaign of repression, according to a 234-page report released by the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua.

This report details how structures of repression quashed protests that erupted in 2018, resulting in at least 350 deaths and numerous detentions. The UN report alleges these officials engaged in arbitrary detentions, torture, extrajudicial executions, persecution of civil societies, media suppression, and confiscation of private properties. Daniel Ortega and his wife, co-president Rosario Murillo, are accused of centralizing power and co-opting government branches.

Key figures named include the head of the army, Julio Cesar Aviles, police national director Francisco Diaz, and others. Despite requests for comments, responses were not provided by Murillo, the army, or the attorney general's office. UN expert Ariela Peralta emphasizes that these are not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate state policy, executed by identifiable actors through defined command chains.

(With inputs from agencies.)