Item 2: Interactive Dialogue with the Group of Experts on Nicaragua

Speaker: Claire Denman

Thank you Mr President,

CSW thanks the Group of Experts for their work.

Over the last year, the Ortega-Murillo regime intensified its crackdown on freedom of religion and belief in Nicaragua, targeting religious leaders and communities with harassment, surveillance, arbitrary detention, and forced exile. CSW documented 222 FoRB violations in 2024, including new “precautionary measures” forcing religious leaders to report weekly to police and obtain authorization for their activities.

Religious services were frequently canceled or infiltrated by government agents. At times, police maintained an intimidating presence outside religious buildings, documenting or threatening attendees. Worshippers risked retaliation simply for mentioning justice, political prisoners, or the national crisis.

CSW recorded 46 arbitrary detentions of faith leaders, many held in inhumane conditions for extended periods. Particularly alarming are the cases of Carmen María Sáenz Martinez and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda, affiliated with the Mata galpa Diocese. Both were detained on August 10 by armed police and have been held incommunicado since, with no proof of life provided to their families.

CSW calls on the Nicaraguan government to release all imprisoned religious leaders and political prisoners and to uphold the fundamental right to FoRB as enshrined in the Nicaraguan Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Thank you.