17 March 2026 — The 46/2 Collective acknowledges the work of the GHREN and welcomes the presentation of the New Report which confirms the allegations made by civil society organisations over the past eight years.

The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) presented on Monday, before the 61st Session of the Human Rights Council, the Annual Report examining the Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua ,* providing new insights into the continuity, gender dimension and escalation of political repression, which is increasingly taking on a transnational character.

With just a few days to go before another anniversary of the violent repression of the April 2018 protests, the organisations that make up the Colectivo 46/2 acknowledge the important documentation work that the Group of Experts has carried out over these years. Their reports, the result of rigorous and systematic work, reaffirm and lend greater legitimacy to the complaints that human rights organisations have made throughout this period, whilst also bringing to light the voices that have been silenced during these eight years of sustained crisis.

The new report takes an in-depth look at the main patterns of transnational human rights violations, such as surveillance, threats, harassment and physical violence; the abuse of international control and cooperation mechanisms; the arbitrary deprivation of nationality; the confiscation of property; and reprisals against family members remaining in the country.

It also analyses the gender dimension of transnational repression and the transnational intelligence and surveillance architecture that enables the State to monitor and persecute Nicaraguans in exile.

A novel aspect of the report is the investigative progress regarding the financing of the State’s repressive apparatus and its links to corrupt practices. The report details various methods employed since 2018 involving the misuse and diversion of public funds to finance repression and human rights violations and to achieve greater social control. At the same time, it identifies the individuals and institutions directly responsible for these acts of corruption.

In its conclusions, the GHREN issues a renewed call to the international community regarding its responsibility to act in the face of the worsening situation and the Nicaraguan State’s refusal to cooperate with the United Nations. In this regard, it warns that given the scale and duration of the violations, the longer action is delayed, the heavier the burden will be to restore rights, democratic institutions and the rule of law.

The Group also urges the State of Nicaragua to adopt effective and unconditional measures to achieve a peaceful and concerted transition in line with its international human rights obligations. The report recommends that the State take a series of measures leading to the cessation of human rights violations, an end to political repression and an end to impunity.

The GRHEN also reiterated general recommendations previously made to the international community, highlighting, among others, the following key recommendations: To conduct investigations and criminal prosecutions on the basis of extraterritorial jurisdiction, including universal jurisdiction; impose targeted sanctions and other legal measures on individuals, entities and institutions identified by the Group as responsible for or complicit in the violations, abuses and crimes; and demand that Nicaragua be held accountable before the International Court of Justice for failing to comply with the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the Convention against Torture.

During the interactive dialogue, more than a dozen diplomatic delegations addressed the Council regarding the GHREN report and the Nicaraguan crisis. The European Union delegation in Geneva thanked GHREN for its report and reiterated its full support for its mandate, expressing alarm at the findings regarding the gender dimension and the transnational nature of the repression, whilst also condemning the abusive use of INTERPOL alerts. The delegation reiterated its call for the restoration of the rule of law in Nicaragua and full compliance with international human rights obligations.

For its part, the UK delegation also expressed deep concern over the continuing deterioration of human rights in Nicaragua, noting that the fact that such violations may constitute crimes against humanity reinforces the need for international scrutiny. Canada, on behalf of the countries comprising the Core Group which monitors the resolution establishing the GHREN mandate, called on the Council to monitor the situation and support accountability efforts, whilst Uruguay rejected the policy of arbitrary deprivation of nationality as a tool of repression. Civil society organisations also participated in the interactive dialogue that followed the presentation of the report.

In these contributions, the report presented was welcomed; the closure of a further 83 organisations during 2025 was denounced; the persecution of women defenders, including exile and denationalisation, and denounced state violence that transcends borders, as well as the dispossession and usurpation of the territories of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, whose right to free, prior and informed consent has been violated through the granting of mining concessions to foreign companies. A demand was made for proof of life regarding Brooklyn Rivera and all those in situations of enforced disappearance, such as retired military officer Carlos Brenes, whose daughter also participated in the dialogue and reminded the regime that the world is watching them and documenting evidence of their abuses.

In several statements from civil society, the release was demanded of all those imprisoned for political reasons – at least 46 people, including women, older adults and eight indigenous forest rangers.

We at the Colectivo 46/2 reaffirm our commitment to peaceful methods that respect international law. We therefore join the Group’s call for the international community to support the work of scrutiny and monitoring and to engage in accountability processes, based on the information provided by the Group regarding serious human rights violations and those responsible for them. Furthermore, we urge all member states of the Council to protect exiled individuals, particularly those who continue to defend human rights whilst facing the risks of transnational repression.

The 46/2 Collective is a coalition comprising 21 international, regional and Nicaraguan human rights organisations that regularly reports to the international community on the Nicaraguan regime’s failure to fulfil its international human rights obligations. Listed below are the member organisations of the Collective that have decided to publicly endorse this statement:

• Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (CEJIL) 
• Colectivo de Derechos Humanos Nicaragua Nunca Más 
• Federación Internacional por los Derechos Humanos (FIDH) 
• Fundación Sin Límites Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos. (IM-Defensoras)
• Instituto sobre Raza, Igualdad y Derechos Humanos (Raza e Igualdad) 
• International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) 
• Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres (MAM) 
• Peace Brigades International (PBI) 
• Unidad de Defensa Jurídica (UDJ) 
• Urnas Abiertas (UA)

 —

* The report in Spanish: https://docs.un.org/es/A/HRC/61/56; and in English: https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/61/56.