Nicaragua continues to weaken political freedoms, UN warns

The UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Wednesday condemned new threats from Nicaragua’s co-president Daniel Ortega to hinder civil rights and prevent dissenting individuals and groups from participating in elections.Mr. Ortega said on Sunday that the country would no longer hold elections, which were scheduled for next year. In his statement, the High Commissioner did not directly address the threat of cancelling the national poll, but broadly deplored Mr. Ortega’s restrictions on political freedoms.The co-president’s announcement builds on a series of troubling developments in Nicaragua, where the Government recently revoked lawyers’ credentials with no explanation and currently is detaining 46 individuals arbitrarily for political reasons, according to the UN’s human rights office (OHCHR).“These latest developments further deepen the severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the dismantling of civic space, and the steady erosion of the rule of law,” Mr. Türk said.The human rights chief maintained that political dissidents must be released and that they must be allowed to participate in the political process, in line with Nicaragua’s international human rights obligations.Ong...