NICARAGUAUSCIRF–RECOMMENDED FOR COUNTRIES OF PARTICULAR CONCERN (CPC)KEY FINDINGSIn 2023, religious freedom conditions in Nicaragua worsened
significantly. The government of President Daniel Ortega
and Vice President Rosario Murillo intensified its efforts toarbitrarily arrest, imprison, and expel Catholic clergymen andlaypeople. The government also canceled the legal status of
Catholic organizations, confiscated their property, and harassed
and intimidated worshipers.
The Nicaraguan government used spurious charges such asspreading “false news” and “conspiracy to undermine nationalintegrity” to justify its arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, and exile ofactual or perceived members of the Catholic Church. In February
2023, the government sentenced Bishop Rolando Álvarez to 26
years in prison and stripped him of his citizenship in retaliation forhis criticism of government actions, including during his homilies
and sermons. It also expelled 222 political prisoners to the UnitedStates and stripped them of their citizenship, including religious
prisoners of conscience such as Father Oscar Benavidez, who
regularly preached against government abuses, and seminarian
Darvin Leiva, who was initially placed under house arrest withBishop Álvarez. In August, journalist Victor Ticay was sentenced
to eight years in prison for recording and posting online a banned
Easter celebration in Nandaime. In October, the government
expelled arbitrarily detained clergymen to the Vatican, includingÁlvaro Toledo, who spoke out about the wrongful imprisonment ofpriests, and Osman José Amador Guillén, who prayed for BishopÁlvarez in his homilies. In December, Bishop Isidro Mora wasarrested after asking congregants to pray for Bishop Álvarezduring Mass.

The Ortega-Murillo regime continued to systematically target
religious organizations it viewed as opponents, particularly Catholiccharitable and educational organizations. In March, the government
canceled the legal status of John Paul II University and Caritas Nicaragua, a Catholic charitable organization. In May, the government
canceled the legal status of the Immaculate Conception Catholic
University in Managua, a formation center for seminarians, and theSanta Luisa de Marillac Technical Institute, a school run by nuns.
The Ortega-Murillo regime’s thinly veiled pretext for these andother cancelations was the organizations’ alleged failures to comply
with bureaucratic regulations or alleged voluntary dissolutions. In
the case of the Jesuit-run University of Central America, however,
the government shuttered the institution after baselessly alleging
that it was involved in terrorism. In many cases the government
also confiscated the property of these organizations. For example,
the government confiscated the University of Central America’s
assets, announced its intention to establish a state university in its
place, and evicted Jesuits living near the campus. In October, thegovernment canceled the legal status and ordered the confiscationof property belonging to the Company of Franciscan Friars Minor.
The ongoing harassment of worshipers took many forms.
Uniformed and plain clothes government agents intimidated clergy
and parishioners by conspicuously monitoring religious services.
The Ortega-Murillo regime banned the public observance ofCatholic traditions such as street processions during Holy Week.
President Ortega and Vice President Murillo also used disparaging language to demonize the Catholic Church, referring to it as a“mafia” and calling priests “representatives of the devil.”

RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT■■

Redesignate Nicaragua as a “country ofparticular concern,” or CPC, for engaging
in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as definedby the International Religious Freedom
Act (IRFA);
Impose targeted sanctions on Nicaraguan government agencies and officials
responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom by freezing
those individuals’ assets and/or barring
their entry into the United States underhuman rights-related financial and visa

authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations; and■Support the work of the United Nations(UN) group of human rights experts onNicaragua to investigate religious freedom violations in Nicaragua and identify
those perpetrating them.

The U.S. Congress should:■

Advocate for religious prisoners of conscience, including those profiled on theFrank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief
Victims List, through letters, congressionaldelegations, floor speeches, and briefings;
and■Support legislation, such as the Restoring
Sovereignty and Human Rights in Nicaragua Act of 2024, which expands the legal
grounds for sanctions against religious
freedom violators and mandates that theU.S. government oppose international
financial institutions’ extension of assistance to Nicaragua unless the assistanceaddresses basic human needs or promotes democracy.

KEY USCIRF RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES
Press Release: USCIRF Condemns Nicaragua’s 26-Year Prison Sentence for Bishop Rolando Álvarez
Press Release: USCIRF Condemns Nicaragua’s Expulsion of Arbitrarily Detained Priests■ Special Report: Religious Freedom for Indigenous Communities in Latin America■ Event: USCIRF Conversation on Religious Freedom for Indigenous Communities in Latin America■ Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List: Nicaragua■■34 U S C I R F | A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 2 4

President Ortega is the head of state and government of Nicaragua.
He and his party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, exercise
authoritarian control over the government and the electoral process.
Nicaragua is embroiled in a social and political crisis that started after
the government’s repression of peaceful protests in April 2018. TheOrtega-Murillo administration began persecuting the Catholic Church
after it provided sanctuary to demonstrators and individual clergy
voiced opposition to the government’s human rights abuses, eventhough Nicaragua’s constitution states that all people, individually orcollectively, have the right to express their religious beliefs in private
or in public, through worship, practices, and teaching. Government
actors and pro-Ortega groups have engaged in increasingly repressive retaliatory measures against the Catholic Church. In March, theUN group of experts on Nicaragua stated that the widespread violations amount to crimes against humanity.
Catholics account for about 43 percent of the population; Evangelical Protestants comprise 41 percent; religious believers without
any affiliation 14 percent; and Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, Muslims,
nonbelievers, and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and the Moravian Lutheran Church together two percent.

Persecution of Clergymen and Laypeople
The Nicaraguan government’s persecution, imprisonment, andmistreatment of Bishop Álvarez was illustrative of its crackdown on
Catholic clergymen and laypeople across the country. In April, it arbitrarily expelled two nuns running a nursing home. In July, it expelled an
additional group of nuns responsible for running a Catholic charitableorganization called the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ. In October, thegovernment expelled a group of clergymen to the Vatican. Some ofthose expelled, such as Jaime Iván Montesinos Sauceda, had beendetained since May. In November, the government sentenced two former Catholic university students, Adela Tercero and Gabriela Morales,
to imprisonment on dubious drug trafficking charges.
The Ortega-Murillo regime ended this year of persecution ofthe Catholic Church with an intense crackdown during the Christmas
season. On December 20, police arrested Bishop Isidro Mora after heoffered prayers for Bishop Álvarez during Mass. Two seminarians whoreportedly attended the Mass, Tony Palacios and Alester Sáenz, werealso detained. On Christmas Eve, the government sentenced six former employees of the Catholic charity Caritas in the Diocese of Estelí
to six years’ imprisonment on dubious money laundering charges.
Between December 26 and 31, the government arbitrarily arrested
many additional clergymen—particularly those who have criticized thereligious freedom and human rights conditions in Nicaragua—suchas Father Pablo Villafranca, Father Silvio Fonseca, and Father MiguelMántica. Amid this wave of arrests and imprisonments, Vice President
Murillo launched an invective against clergy, calling them “representatives of the devil.” The Nicaraguan police also warned priests againstorganizing traditional posadas (outdoor Nativity scenes). In January2024, many of the clergy arrested during the Christmas crackdown
were exiled to the Vatican.

Government Closure of Catholic Organizations
President Ortega’s attempt to excise Catholic organizations fromNicaragua heightened in 2023. Catholic educational institutions

such as the John Paul II Catholic University, the Immaculate Conception Catholic University of the Archdiocese of Managua, theSanta Luisa de Marillac Technical Institute, and the Jesuit-run University of Central America were all shuttered on a variety of dubious
charges, including money laundering and terrorism. In addition, theNicaraguan government closed Catholic charitable organizations
such as the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ and Caritas. Following
these closures, the government often seized the organizations’assets and property. The government also amended Law 89, theAutonomy Law of Higher Education Institutions, and Law 582,
the General Education Law, to formally strip all higher education
institutions—including shuttered Catholic universities—of theirautonomy and to bring them under the control of the government’s
National Council of Universities.

Key U.S. Policy
In February 2023, the Joseph R. Biden administration negotiated the release of 222 political prisoners from Nicaragua to theUnited States. Among those released were religious prisoners ofconscience. The U.S. government continued to impose robust sanctions against Nicaraguan officials responsible for religious freedomviolations. In April, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Officeof Foreign Assets Control, pursuant to Executive Order 13851,
sanctioned three judicial officials responsible for stripping Nicaraguan citizenship from clergymen and for falsely convicting BishopÁlvarez for treason, undermining national integrity, and spreading
false news. In July and December, U.S. Secretary of State Antony
J. Blinken transmitted reports identifying Nicaraguan officials whoare ineligible for visas and admission to the United States becauseof their work to confiscate the property of, retaliate against, andstrip citizenship from critics of the Ortega-Murillo administration,
as required by Section 353(b) of the Northern Triangle Enhanced
Engagement Act, as amended. In August, the U.S. Department ofState imposed visa restrictions on 100 municipal officials involved inclosing civil society organizations, including the Jesuit-run University of Central America, and detaining human rights and religious
freedom advocates pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 10309.
In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. government obligated $27 million forprograms in Nicaragua.
The U.S. Congress took significant steps in 2023 to highlightthe particularly severe religious freedom violations occurring inNicaragua, including through hearings, letters, and legislation suchas the Nicaragua Prisoner Support Act. In January 2024, the Restoring Sovereignty and Human Rights in Nicaragua Act of 2024 wasintroduced. The legislation would provide for sanctions against
religious freedom violators by reauthorizing and amending the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act of 2018 and the Reinforcing
Nicaragua’s Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of2021. The legislation also would mandate U.S. government support
for the UN group of human rights experts on Nicaragua, which iscomprehensively investigating religious freedom and human rights
violations in the country.
On December 29, 2023, the State Department redesignated Nicaragua as a CPC under IRFA and reimposed the ongoing restrictions
referenced in Section 5 of the Nicaragua Investment Conditionality
Act of 2018.

U S C I R F – R E C O M M E N D E D F O R C O U N T R I E S O F PA R T I C U L A R C O N C E R N ( C P C )35

NICARAGUABackground