PBI speaks to the situation in Nicaragua at the Human Rights Council session in Geneva
On September 21, Kim-Mai Vu of Peace Brigades International presented to the 51st Session of the Human Rights Council at the UN in Geneva.
Our statement noted:
“We welcome the High Commissioner’s report on the human rights situation in Nicaragua and echo his concerns about the deterioration of the situation. Coinciding with its report, PBI has verified that in the last year the reduction of civic and democratic space in Nicaragua has deepened.
Nicaraguan human rights defenders face increasing restrictions to carry out their defense work. The arbitrary closures of civil organizations, through the cancellation of legal status, have increased in the last year, reaching the sum of 1,775 closed organizations, according to the records of the Nicaraguan Nunca Mas Human Rights Collective.
The persecution, threats and harassment against dissenting voices continue, which has forced thousands of people to resort to exile in conditions of risk and vulnerability. In Costa Rica, in the first 7 months of the year, 46,348 refugee applications were received from Nicaraguans, totaling 163,000 since 2018.
We are concerned about the increase in violence against Nicaraguan girls and adolescents. Nicaraguan feminist organizations and activists in exile have registered 34 murders of girls and adolescents since 2019. The situation of insecurity and lack of access to justice due to the deterioration of the State’s institutionality and the decrease in education, promotion and defense of rights due to the closure of civil society organizations, have a direct impact on the lives of women, girls and adolescents, as well as on the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants.
The most recent incident at the beginning of this month was the femicide of two girls from the Miskito indigenous people, only 7 and 10 years old. The suppression of fundamental freedoms, through the enactment of arbitrary and discriminatory laws, has fueled widespread violence in civic space, in addition to the fragmentation of civil society.
We urge the international community to continue monitoring the human rights situation in Nicaragua and, in particular, the security and integrity of human rights defenders and the territories.”
The video of this presentation can be seen here (starting at 1:30:47).
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