UN report calls for international action as Nicaragua's gov deepens repression

26/2/2025 16:50

The United Nations has urged the international community to respond to what it called human rights violations by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's government as it seeks to further consolidate power, according to a report published on Wednesday.



Ortega, a former leftist rebel who initially came to power in 1979 and returned in 2007, has been extending his control by allowing his presidency to "coordinate" judicial and legislative duties as well as expanding state control over media.



The UN report accuses Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, who serves as co-president, of having "transformed the country into an authoritarian state where no independent institutions remain."



The UN experts urged legal action against Nicaragua, highlighting human rights abuses in the Latin American country, which they said follow patterns that have been previously established as crimes against humanity.



Ortega's government in the past has ignored reports from the UN and the Organization of American States, which it says are part of an international campaign against it.