Nicaragua Expels UN Human Rights Mission Over Scathing Report

01:34 GMT, 1 September 2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The expulsion came two days after the publication of a report, which criticized violence and impunity of the crackdown on anti-government protesters across the country and urged action by the international community.

Sputnik

The Nicaraguan government gave a top UN human rights body hours to leave the country after a damning report by the panel accused it of repressions, rights organizations said Friday.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) strongly condemned the "unusual and provocative" decision by President Daniel Ortega’s government to expel officials from the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.

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"This decision reflects the sovereign and intolerant nature of the government that lacks solid arguments to contradict the report," the nonprofit said in a statement.

The Human Rights Watch’s Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco said President Ortega’s move exposed his administration’s determination to conceal its brutality.

"The Security Council should hold an urgent meeting on this crisis, condemn the abuses and pressure the country to cooperate with international human rights bodies," he said.

Turmoil erupted in Nicaragua on April 18 when people took to the streets to protest unpopular social security reforms. This led to months of demonstrations, which saw some 300 people killed and 2,000 others injured.