A/HRC/42/18 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 40/2, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a comprehensive written report on the human rights situation in Nicaragua and to present it to its forty-second session. 2. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) intensified its monitoring of the human rights situation in Nicaragua in early April 2018, at the onset of the sociopolitical and human rights crisis. On 26 June, OHCHR deployed a team of human rights officers to Managua, at the invitation of the Government. On 29 August, OHCHR published a report entitled “Human rights violations and abuses in the context of protests in Nicaragua: 18 April–18 August 2018”.1 On 30 August, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua rescinded its invitation to OHCHR. The OHCHR Regional Office for Central America has since continued remotely monitoring the human rights situation in Nicaragua. On 14 December, the OHCHR Regional Representative in Central America met the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Managua to discuss possible cooperation and access to the country, in follow-up to a meeting between the High Commissioner and the Minister of Foreign Affairs held in Geneva on 17 September. 3. The present report focuses on the human rights situation in Nicaragua from 19 August 2018 to 31 July 2019. It is based on information collected by OHCHR in Nicaragua, as well as in Panama and Costa Rica, including through interviews with Nicaraguan refugees and migrants and remote interviews. During the period under review, OHCHR conducted 187 interviews with victims and witnesses of human rights violations and other sources, including lawyers, journalists and health professionals (96 men and 91 women). It interviewed 96 people remotely and 91 in person. OHCHR also held 128 meetings with various stakeholders, including government officials. Furthermore, OHCHR analysed documents from governmental and non-governmental sources, including videos, photographs and open source reports. It sent 37 communications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting detailed information about allegations of human rights violations. The Government replied to six of them, including to a questionnaire sent by OHCHR with a view to the preparation of the present report. OHCHR is grateful to the Government for responding to its requests, but notes that most of the information provided lacked sufficient precision to allow proper analysis. 4. In line with its methodology on human rights monitoring, OHCHR cross-checked the information it collected with different sources and evaluated its credibility by applying due diligence. The information it analysed and verified provides reasonable grounds to believe that the events took place as described and that patterns outlined in the report constitute human rights violations. OHCHR assessed the information in the light of international human rights law applicable to Nicaragua and relevant domestic legislation, also taking into account standard-setting instruments complementary to international norms. II. Context 5. In early April 2018, protests against the Government erupted throughout Nicaragua, turning into massive demonstrations, roadblocks and barricades that were violently dismantled by the police and pro-Government elements between mid-June to mid-July 2018. More than 300 people died in the context of the protests and their repression, while 2,000 were injured.2 The crisis prompted over 80,000 people to flee Nicaragua. 3 OHCHR 1 2 3 2 Available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/NI/HumanRightsViolationsNicaraguaApr_Aug2018_EN.pdf. Ibid. According to the Regional Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Panama, as of July 2019, 52,330 asylum applications of Nicaraguans had been registered in Europe, Central