Nicaraguan authorities have recently released 135 political and religious prisoners in response to international pressure, yet many critics of the government remain imprisoned amid an ongoing crackdown on political dissent and religious groups.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan emphasized on Thursday that “no one should be jailed for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights of free expression, association, and practicing their religion.”
The U.S. Department of State (DOS), which has been advocating for the release of political prisoners in Nicaragua, reported that those freed included Catholic laypeople, 13 individuals linked to the Texas-based evangelical group Mountain Gateway, and human rights activists. Many of the released individuals have temporarily resettled “safely and voluntarily” in Guatemala, with the Guatemalan government assisting in their release in collaboration with the United States.
The DOS noted that these former prisoners will have the opportunity to apply for legal pathways to resettle in the U.S. or elsewhere and start rebuilding their lives.
President Daniel Ortega’s administration has detained hundreds of political opponents since the 2018 protests against his rule. The socialist government has also expelled religious sisters, closed Catholic schools and media outlets, and imprisoned numerous Catholic clergy, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was released and sent to the Vatican along with priests and seminarians in January. Last week, the regime shut down 169 additional nonprofit organizations, including Catholic and evangelical groups, confiscated a retirement fund for Catholic priests, and eliminated tax exemptions for these churches.
The DOS statement condemned Ortega’s regime for its continued human rights violations, repression of dissent, and wrongful imprisonment of opponents, urging the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Nicaragua.
Kristina Hjelkrem, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF) in Latin America, highlighted that the latest release would lead to the reunification of many families. ADF had advocated for the Mountain Gateway affiliates. Hjelkrem noted that the regime frequently fabricates charges against its critics, including financial crimes and newly invented offenses like “propagation of false news” or “undermining national integrity,” to silence dissent. She criticized the regime for targeting churches and church-related institutions with these false charges as a means to suppress criticism.
Hjelkrem underscored that international pressure from human rights groups and sovereign states has proven effective in securing the release of Nicaraguan political and religious prisoners and urged continued advocacy against the censorship faced by religious leaders in Nicaragua.
Sullivan reiterated the call for the Nicaraguan government to “immediately cease the arbitrary arrest and detention of its citizens for merely exercising their fundamental freedoms.”
In April, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom identified Nicaragua as one of the worst offenders of religious persecution globally.