In a brand new report launched on Friday, the three-person group of specialists – who’re appointed by the UN Human Rights Council – discovered authorities have used bodily and psychological violence, together with threats of intimidation, beatings and extended solitary confinement towards each college students and college.
A few of these instances might quantity to torture and largely contain college students and professors who participated in widespread anti-Authorities protests in 2018 or those that have publicly criticised the Authorities of President Daniel Ortega.
Universities in Nicaragua have lengthy performed a historic function as areas for social change and resistance, relationship again to the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, the specialists be aware.
Consequently, “the Nicaraguan Authorities has immediately focused universities as a part of a widespread repressive marketing campaign, eliminating their autonomy and turning them into centres of political management,” stated Jan Simon, who chairs the group, none of whom obtain fee for his or her work and who will not be UN employees.
Closures, expulsions
Between 2021 and 2024, no less than 37 universities and better training establishments – most of that are recognized for supporting social actions – have had their authorized standing revoked below administrative sanctions.
These closures, the specialists underscored, are a part of a broader technique to forestall organised opposition and prohibit educational freedom.
Moreover, because the 2018 protests, it’s estimated that lots of of scholars and professors have confronted arbitrary expulsion or dismissal for his or her political views, however particular percentages are difficult because of authorities censorship and information restrictions.
Authorities reforms and college management
In 2022, the Authorities launched reforms by Regulation 1114, which eliminated college autonomy, centralising management over educational establishments.
The specialists emphasised that this reform successfully positioned the federal government accountable for educational establishments’ funds, administration, and curriculum, undermining impartial thought and freedom.
The report additionally discovered that in universities which haven’t closed, college students and professors deemed essential of the regime now face boundaries to acquiring diplomas or transcripts. This restricts not solely their academic development but additionally future employment alternatives.
Name for worldwide motion
The Group of Consultants known as on the worldwide group to induce the Nicaraguan State to revive college autonomy and assure safety and freedom of expression within the educational sphere.
“The tutorial group deserves secure and free areas to specific concepts and contribute to the social growth of the nation, and these rights should be restored urgently. With these actions the Authorities is jeopardising the way forward for the nation,” Mr. Simon pressured.
