The report to the Human Rights Council called on the Government, led by partners in marriage and politics, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, to ensure accountability, restore civic space, and take meaningful measures to guarantee the rights of all Nicaraguans – including those in exile.
“Repression and institutional corruption have become the governing method in Nicaragua under the control of the Ortega-Murillo family,” said Jan-Michael Simon, Chair of the Group of Independent Human Rights Experts.
“Political persecution is financed by the State, executed through its institutions, and extended across borders to ensure that no one – absolutely no one – stands in the way of the regime.”
‘Structured and corruptly financed’
Drawing on dozens of interviews and extensive documentary evidence, the report documents how since 2018 government funding earmarked for social assistance, cleaning projects, and operational expenses was redirected to fund violent security operations, including the 2018 crackdown on nationwide protests.
“The misuse and diversion of public resources have directly contributed to the commission of serious human rights violations,” said Reed Brody, member of the Human Rights Council-appointed expert body.
“Repression in Nicaragua is not improvised – it is structured and corruptly financed,” he added.
Repression beyond borders
The report details an extensive transnational surveillance and intelligence architecture used to monitor, intimidate and attack hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans who live abroad.
The Government has arbitrarily deprived 452 Nicaraguans of their nationality, rendered thousands more exiles by refusing to renew or provide necessary documents, and barred many from re-entering Nicaragua.
Others have faced surveillance, harassment, smear campaigns, property confiscations and proxy retaliation against relatives at home.
“The co-presidents have built an apparatus that hunts down dissents wherever they may be…No-one is beyond the reach of this repressive regime”, Mr. Brody told reporters at the Human Rights Council press conference on Tuesday.
At least a dozen cases of killings or attempted killings of exiled critics have been reported, including the June 2025 murder in Costa Rica of retired army major and Government critic Roberto Samcam.
‘Crimes against humanity’
The report documents a multi-layered intelligence structure integrating the army, police, migration authorities, telecommunications regulators, and diplomatic missions.
Meanwhile, digital surveillance and harassment, hacking and doxing have all been used to silence critics.
“Diplomatic and consular structures have been instrumentalized to track, monitor and intimidate exiled Nicaraguans,” said Ariela Peralta of the independent expert body.
Another concern has been gender-based rights violations that “form part of a deliberate repressive strategy aimed at punishing women and feminist movements for their long-standing leadership as autonomous political actors,” said Peralta
The report reiterated its previous findings that violations committed since 2018 amount, on the face of it, to crimes against humanity.
‘Urgent’ international accountability
As Nicaragua has discontinued cooperation with the Human Rights Council and withdrawn from several UN bodies, the Group of Experts stressed that ‘international accountability is more urgent than ever”.
The Independent UN experts called on Member Staes to mobilise a comprehensive framework of accountability – encompassing universal jurisdiction, targeted sanctions, and treaty-based litigation – while ensuring robust protection for exiled populations.
