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GENEVA: The UN rights chief on Wednesday criticized creeping authoritarianism and abuses of power in Nicaragua, which has been ruled with an iron fist by President Daniel Ortega since 2007.<\/p>\n
After the publication of a report on the rights situation in the central American country and the repression of dissident voices beyond Nicaragua\u2019s borders, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned that \u201cthe situation is utterly indefensible\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report traces the near-total capture of state institutions by the ruling party, and the systematic abuse of power that has weakened institutional checks and balances, leaving most Nicaraguans without recourse in the face of human rights violations or abuses,\u201d Turk said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The report pointed to a constitutional reform preventing Ortega\u2019s opponents from taking part in elections passed unanimously by the national assembly in early September.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ruling party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front… currently holds an absolute majority in the legislative branch, all 153 municipalities and both regional councils in the autonomous regions of the Caribbean coast,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis reflects a broader context of concentrated political power and the effective absence of pluralistic democratic practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the reporting period from June 2025 to June 2026, the UN rights office also recorded at least eight forced disappearances and four deaths in detention blamed on the authorities.<\/p>\n
Turk urged the Nicaraguan authorities to release all those who had been detained arbitrarily.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is almost nothing left to shut down,\u201d the rights chief said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n