The State of the World's Human Rights; Nicaragua 2025

Patterns of repression continued to consolidate, including arbitrary deprivation of nationality, undue restrictions on freedom of movement, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of dissidents, as well as severe limitations on freedom of expression and religion. Authoritarian practices in the closure of civic space persisted, including cancellation of legal status and confiscation of assets of social organizations.

Background

The authorities approved a constitutional reform that eliminated the prohibition of torture and restricted dual nationality. At the same time, the state expanded its repressive apparatus by creating a “patriotic military reserve” and swearing in thousands of volunteer police officers. Nicaragua also announced its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council and suspended cooperation with multilateral bodies. Nevertheless, the international community maintained its initiatives for accountability and renewed the mandate of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) for two years.

Freedom of movement

GHREN documented 318 bans on entry into Nicaragua between 2018 and 2025 and warned that the real figure could be higher, due to victims’ fear of reprisals, including through confiscation of assets. These measures affected Nicaraguan nationals – who were left in a situation of effective statelessness as they could not return to their country – and foreigners, including journalists and staff of international organizations. In the first quarter of 2025, local organizations and the media registered at least 290 additional cases of Nicaraguans who had been prevented from entering the country, based on changes to the Migration Law and amendments to the Penal Code that allowed denial of entry or expulsion of individuals deemed to pose a “threat” or a “social risk” or be capable of “undermining” national sovereignty. Those affected included health professionals, business people and journalists.

Freedom of association

The use of practices and norms restricting freedom of association continued as the main strategy of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s government to dismantle civic space. In addition to consistent application of Law 1115 and related legislation, in March the Ministry of the Interior issued regulations aimed at strengthening administrative and financial oversight of non-profit organizations, with new requirements on due diligence, reporting and tracking of donors and beneficiaries, and extending the powers of inspection and suspension for alleged non-compliance. In practice, these provisions facilitated the cancellation of legal status and increased the risk of accounts being frozen and operations suspended.

According to reports by exiled organizations and the media, new waves of cancellations occurred throughout the year, with around 20 organizations of various kinds being dismantled. The confiscation of buildings, land and equipment from such NGOs, media outlets and individuals who had been exiled or made stateless also continued, with the state taking over these assets.

The Special Monitoring Mechanism for Nicaragua of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) updated its database and reported the closure of thousands of organizations since 2018, calling it a systematic attack on civic space.

Repression of dissent

Arbitrary detention of dissidents or perceived dissidents persisted. Local organizations registered more than 50 cases during the year and the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners, a group of civil society organizations, documented that at least 60 people remained deprived of their liberty for political reasons in December, several of them in a situation of enforced disappearance due to concealment of their whereabouts and denial of visits. GHREN warned that the resurgence of enforced disappearance was one of the most worrying developments observed since the beginning of its mandate.

The repeal of Article 36 of the Constitution, which expressly prohibited torture, weakened existing safeguards and increased the risk to the physical integrity of detained individuals.

The IACHR condemned the deaths in custody of Carlos Cárdenas Zepeda and Mauricio Alonso Petri on 29 and 25 August respectively, demanding immediate, impartial and effective investigations.

Throughout the year, the IACHR also requested that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights extend provisional measures to protect the life and integrity of some detainees. On 4 February, the Court ordered the release of journalist Catalino “Leo” Cárcamo on grounds of serious risk of irreparable damage to his rights. He was released from prison and placed under house arrest in November, though this continued to restrict his rights.

Freedom of religion and belief

Religious persecution intensified. According to reports from the media and from Nicaraguan and international organizations, the authorities expelled at least 30 Poor Clare nuns, evicting them from three of their monasteries in the departments of Managua, Matagalpa and Chinandega. For the second consecutive year, some religious celebrations were restricted or banned, through measures including surveillance of parishes and the freezing of bank accounts belonging to members of the clergy critical of the government.