UN says Nicaragua’s human rights violations and persecution of dissidents are on the rise

By GABRIELA SELSER
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua has increased human rights violations and persecution of the opposition as it ratchets up its efforts to stifle dissent, a United Nations group of experts monitoring the country says. The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua told the U.N. Human Rights Council Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland, that the government continues increasing pressure on human rights defenders to force them to leave the country. That persecution has extended to the education sector, where the government has systematically cancelled the legal status of private universities and seized their campuses.