Joint statement by the OHCHR for Central America and the IACHR’s SRFOE on Journalist's Day in Nicaragua
March 2, 2021
Washington D.C. - Within the framework of the Nicaraguan Journalist Day, the undersigned representatives of the international community met to reflect on the current situation in Nicaragua and reaffirmed their commitment to the full guarantee of the right to freedom of expression in the country.
The international community has been registering, since April 2018, a climate of hostility towards the exercise of freedom of expression in the country, marked by the criminalization of protest, arbitrary detentions, the confiscation and closure of independent media, the persecution and harassment of independent journalists, human rights defenders, and opponents, and their exile.
2020 and the beginning of 2021 were marked by numerous attacks against journalists and independent media, which have included recurrent stigmatizing statements by high-ranking authorities, numerous criminal cases against journalists, harassment of journalists and the media, raids, threats, physical attacks, among others. The Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation, which, like PEN Nicaragua, was forced to suspend operations, registered at least 338 cases of violations to freedom of the press between January and November 2020. Likewise, the confiscation of the buildings of the media and civil society organizations continues, which have recently had posters posted on them informing that they now belong to the Ministry of Health. These attacks seriously compromise democracy and the right to an informed society.
In the last months of 2020, the National Assembly approved a series of regressive and restrictive regulations, which directly attack the exercise of freedom of expression and association by citizens and journalists and affect the survival of independent media and civil society organizations. In the current Nicaraguan context, the Law for the Regulation of Foreign Agents and the Special Law on Cybercrimes deepen the deterioration of freedom of expression and can create an inhibitory environment for freedom of the press, as well as having drastic restrictions on civil liberties.
It is of special concern that the enactment of these regulations and these forms of harassment are taking place at the beginning of a defining electoral year for democracy and the rule of law in Nicaragua. The undersigned understand that it is essential to redouble efforts to accompany Nicaraguan civil society at this time. In this sense, they firmly condemn the attacks against the independent press and urge the State to respect the freedom of expression of its citizens and to guarantee free and transparent elections.
Therefore, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Regional Office for Central America and the Dominican Republic of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights invite the international community to continue and to emphasize their observation on the situation of journalists in Nicaragua. Likewise, they consider and invite the international community to take into account the following cooperation nodes:
Signed on March 1, 2021 by,
Pedro Vaca
Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression – Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Organization of American States
Alberto Brunori
Representative of the Regional Office for Central America and the Dominican Republic of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – OHCHR