In response to the constitutional reform initiative put forward by the Nicaraguan authorities to extend the presidential term and permanently exclude from electoral processes people labelled by the government as “traitors” or “coup plotters”, Amnesty International warns that these measures represent a further step in dismantling the right of Nicaraguans to participate in the public affairs of their country.
The right of all people to take part in the conduct of public affairs, including the right to vote and to be elected in genuine elections without unreasonable restrictions, is recognised under Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Nicaragua remains bound by this treaty and cannot arbitrarily eliminate or restrict these rights.
“This electoral reform is an attempt to consolidate a system in which the state arbitrarily decides who may exercise a fundamental human right and who is excluded from doing so on political grounds,” said Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
This electoral reform is an attempt to consolidate a system in which the state arbitrarily decides who may exercise a fundamental human right and who is excluded from doing so on political grounds,”
Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
The reform was presented following statements made by Co-President Daniel Ortega during a commemorative event on 19 July, when he declared that “there will be no more elections here”, marking the beginning of a process to incorporate these restrictions into the country’s legal framework.
These measures form part of a sustained process of concentration of power and closure of civic space that intensified following the repression of the 2018 protests, during which, according to civil society organisations and regional and international human rights mechanisms, more than 300 people were killed. Since then, the authorities have cancelled the legal status of more than 5,000 civil societ
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