The Human Rights Council held its 62nd regular session from June 15 to July 7, 2026.
Peace Brigades International (PBI) participated in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Gina Romero. PBI’s presentation (which begins at 1:03:29, here) highlighted our concerns in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Kenya, Colombia, and Canada.
Regarding Nicaragua, PBI stated the following:
“Civic space has been completely shut down: 5,663 organizations have been shut down or had their assets confiscated since 2018. Displaced human rights defenders face transnational repression, including digital surveillance, aimed at silencing them.”
The data on closed organizations was provided to PBI by the Nicaragua Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, an organization that, from exile, continues to document human rights violations in Nicaragua, including the closure of civic and democratic space in the country.
PBI also submitted a written statement to the Working Group on Extrajudicial Executions, which presented its annual report on June 18, 2026, during the Council session. PBI took the opportunity to mark the first anniversary of the murder in Costa Rica of political analyst Roberto Samcam and to highlight the concerns that still persist regarding transnational repression.
“We are concerned about the Nicaraguan government’s transnational repression of exiled human rights defenders and political opponents. Tomorrow, June 19, marks one year since the murder of political analyst Roberto Samcam in Costa Rica, where he had been living as a political refugee since 2018. This crime and other attacks against opposition figures have undermined the safety of human rights defenders seeking refuge in that country. It is essential that the Working Group on Extrajudicial Executions and this Council keep a close eye on the ongoing judicial investigation to ensure that justice is served not only against the perpetrators but also against those who ordered the crime.”
The PBI statement, which also expresses concern about situations in Kenya and Honduras, concludes with the following request:
“We urge the Council and its members to issue an urgent call to the competent authorities to ensure prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigations into all three cases, as well as the safety of the affected communities, organizations, and human rights defenders.”
Oral Update on the Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua
On June 29, 2026, Mahamane Cissé-Gouro, Director of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Bodies Division of the United Nations Office of Human Rights, presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council an Oral Update on the Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua, which can be viewed in full here and read in English at this link.
The update expressed concern over the persistence of human rights violations in Nicaragua, a situation that has shown no improvement over the past year. It also addressed the transnational repression that threatens the safety of exiles and expressed grave concern regarding the rights of indigenous peoples, which are threatened by mining-related extractivism.