New Nicaraguan law criminalizes foreign opposition, targets NGOs

Nicaragua’s Congress, which is allied with the regime, approved a law on Tuesday giving national courts the authority to rule against individuals and entities abroad that promote sanctions against the internationally criticized government.

The reform could lead to prison sentences of up to 30 years for the crime of “undermining national integrity.” Nicaragua’s courts are also seen as loyal to the regime of President Daniel Ortega, which has closed nearly 5,500 NGOs since protests against him were met with a crackdown in 2018 that left more than 300 people dead, according to the United Nations.

The Central American nation has jailed hundreds of critics, both real and perceived, over the past six years. Ortega, a 78-year-old former guerrilla, views the 2018 protests as an attempted coup promoted by the United States and supported by the religious community.

His government is under sanctions by the U.S. and European Union. The new law applies to Nicaraguans and foreigners — individuals, companies and NGOs — and provides for the confiscation of assets, although it was not made clear how such sentences would be enforced on foreign soil.

The government says the aim is to combat “transnational organized crime.” The law was passed after the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva reported a rise in arbitrary detentions, intimidation of government opponents, ill-treatment in custody and attacks on indigenous peoples.

“The human rights situation in Nicaragua has seriously deteriorated since last year,” a statement said. Regarding the law, HRW expressed concern that it could be used “to further pressure and intimidate exiled citizens and foreigners from the legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression and other rights.”

UN human rights chief Volker Turk has called on the government to immediately release “all arbitrarily detained people,” end torture and persecution, and “restore the previously acquired legal status of civil society organizations and opposition parties.”

Nicaragua’s opposition movement, most of whose members live in exile in Costa Rica, the United States and Spain, said the new law would help Ortega “expand his repressive reach internationally.”

“It allows the regime to prosecute anyone, whether in Nicaragua or not, and without them being present at the trial,” to silence opponents “at the international level,” said exiled former presidential candidate Felix Maradiaga.