On Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026, the UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned new threats by Nicaragua’s co-president Daniel Ortega to obstruct civil rights and bar dissenting individuals and groups from participating in elections. Ortega announced on Sunday that Nicaragua would no longer hold elections scheduled for next year.

These developments follow a troubling pattern in Nicaragua, where the government has recently revoked lawyers’ credentials without explanation and is arbitrarily detaining 46 individuals for political reasons, according to the UN’s human rights office (OHCHR). A 2025 OHCHR report detailed the dismantling of civil society, restrictive electoral eligibility rules, widespread gender-based violence, serious abuses against detainees, and a constitutional overhaul that removed prohibitions on torture.

Volker Türk emphasized that political dissidents must be released and allowed to participate in the political process in accordance with Nicaragua’s international human rights obligations. He also expressed concern over government repression against the Catholic Church and other religious groups, requesting information on the whereabouts of the recently detained 80-year-old Bishop Abelardo Mata Guevara.

Daniel Ortega has served as Nicaragua’s president from 1985 to 1990 and again since 2007. Since February 2025, he has shared the presidency with his wife, Rosario Murillo. His socialist party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, controls parliament, all municipal governments, and the North and South Caribbean Coast Regional Councils.

These latest actions deepen severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, dismantle civic space, and erode the rule of law in Nicaragua, according to the UN human rights office.

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