Nicaragua’s new legal reforms target opponents and critics

A package of legal reforms recently approved in Nicaragua is seen by experts and opponents as an attempt to “legitimize” the prosecution of critics of President Daniel Ortega, both inside and outside the country. These reforms include changes to the Criminal Code that allow for the prosecution of individuals who take actions against Ortega’s government abroad, as well as changes to the Cybercrime Law, which opens the door to convicting individuals for social media posts .

Two other laws were also reformed: one now requires churches to pay taxes, and the other restricts the work of NGOs, which can now only operate in joint programs with state entities. (Ortega has closed about 5,500 NGOs and confiscated their assets.)

These initiatives “aim to create a legal framework that legitimizes new practices that violate human rights,” says lawyer Camila Ormar of the NGO Center for Justice and International Law (Cejil).

“These reforms could be used to further intensify the persecution and repression of Nicaraguans, even those in exile,” said Christian Salazar Volkmann, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In an annual report on the situation in Nicaragua, the High Commissioner’s office warned of a “serious” deterioration under the Ortega government and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, with arbitrary arrests of opponents and reports of torture and other ill-treatment of prisoners.

This report, which was discussed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in September, was rejected by Nicaragua’s Attorney General Wendy Morales.

This isn’t the first time

Ortega’s supporters argue that this package of reforms strengthens institutions and allows the government to fight “transnational” crime. “These reforms aim to strengthen the work of our country’s institutions responsible for tackling organized transnational crime,” pro-government lawmaker María Auxiliadora Martínez said during a parliamentary session.

However, Cejil’s lawyer pointed out that “this is not the first time that laws in Nicaragua have been reformed to criminalize those perceived as opponents or dissenting voices.” “Laws adopted or reformed by Nicaragua must be in accordance with human rights treaties recognized by the state,” Ormar stressed.

Ortega’s government has intensified repression since opposition protests in 2018, which left more than 300 dead in three months, according to the UN. Since then, thousands of Nicaraguans have gone into exile and hundreds have been displaced, with their property confiscated.

The 78-year-old former guerrilla who ruled Nicaragua in the 1980s and returned to power in 2007 claims the protests were a Washington-sponsored coup attempt.

Gag law

The reformed Penal Code provides for prison sentences of up to 30 years for those who commit “crimes against the state or its institutions,” both in Nicaragua and abroad. Meanwhile, the cybercrime law imposes penalties for social media posts and smartphone apps that cause “alarm,” with penalties of up to 10 years in prison.

Such punishments “are incompatible with the principle of legality enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights,” Cejil said. Prosecuting individuals outside the country will lead to “trials in absentia,” Cejil’s representative warned.

Justifying abuses

The reform of the cybercrime law has intensified a regulation in force since 2020, the so-called ‘gag law’, which led to the prosecution and arrest of many Nicaraguan opponents and journalists for allegedly ‘spreading false news’.

“These laws have resulted in the denationalization of many people,” said Nicaraguan lawyer Salvador Marenco, exiled in Costa Rica, referring to Ortega stripping 451 exiled opponents of their nationality. Marenco stated that this “policy of transnational repression” is Ortega’s response to sanctions from the United States and the European Union.

Former Nicaraguan Ambassador Arturo McFields said that with these reforms, Ortega is trying to “justify his abuses and crimes and also give legal legitimacy” to his repressive actions.

“They first carry out these actions on the ground and then try to structure a legal framework,” added the former ambassador of the Organization of American States (OAS), who is in exile in the United States.