The Diplomat
The European Parliament has condemned this Thursday the repression carried out by the Government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua against opponents, human rights defenders and other groups and has asked the EU Member States to denounce the Nicaraguan regime before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
In a resolution approved by a show of hands, the plenary session of the European Parliament has denounced the “systematic, repeated and arbitrary” persecution to which human rights defenders, opponents and religious representatives, mainly Catholics, have been subjected since 2018, and has demanded the immediate release of all people arbitrarily detained and the restoration of the rule of law in the country.
MEPs have also denounced the use of exile and the revocation of nationality “as a weapon against dissenting voices” and have called for the safe return of exiles to be allowed and the right to dissent to be respected.
The European Parliament has warned that the EU must demand guarantees of respect for human rights when allocating funds to the country and ensure that European money does not contribute to strengthening the Ortega and Murillo regime.
Finally, the European Parliament has urged Member States to initiate investigations into the Ortega and Murillo regime through the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and has reiterated its demand that the EU expand the list of sanctioned persons to include both of them and their circle of close associates.
This is the first time that the European Parliament has spoken out on the situation in Nicaragua since the beginning of the legislature in July 2024. In the previous legislature (2019-2024), the Chamber adopted seven resolutions denouncing the authoritarian drift and the persecution of dissidents by the Nicaraguan regime.
