Nicaragua Shuts Down 1,500 Non-Profits in Latest Crackdown
Nicaragua has revoked the registration of 1,500 NPOs, including hundreds of religious groups over their alleged failure to submit financial statements for periods ranging from one to 35 years in a latest move in a years-long crackdown on civil society, CNN reports.
Some associations effectively shuttered by the announcement were sports oriented, hosting basketball, tennis and soccer teams. There were groups for health, womens’ rights, LGBTQ rights, legal associations and veterans’ clubs. Over 400 of the groups were religiously-tied organizations, most of them Christian.
Earlier this month, Nicaragua canceled the legal status of the Diocese of Matagalpa’s Caritas for alleged bureaucratic reasons, according to Vatican News. The diocese is headed by Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a vocal critic of the government who lives in exile after being convicted of charges including conspiracy and treason.
Civil liberties in Nicaragua have shrunk dramatically under the longtime leadership of authoritarian President Daniel Ortega, who claimed a fifth term in 2021.
In recent years, his government has arrested numerous opposition presidential candidates, journalists and human rights activists under a vague national security law.
Widespread anti-regime protests in 2018 were also met with brutal force, with Nicaraguan security forces killing hundreds of people, injuring thousands and arbitrarily detaining many, according to Human Rights Watch. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have fled the country.
The United Nations has expressed “grave concern” over the human rights situation in Nicaragua, with at least 35 people arrested since March as part of a “crackdown on civic space,” according to Nada al-Nashif, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights.
