Nicaragua revokes the license of lawyers in the latest violation of the opposition | Human Rights Issues

The government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are accused of violating the rights of the opposition.

Nicaragua’s government has seized dozens of lawyers from their jobs, in what critics see as another attack on the country’s opposition.

On Friday, a United Nations expert called the government’s actions a “removal of the legal profession”, which aims to destroy the last stages of democracy.

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Nicaraguan husband and wife, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, have led a government that is increasingly cracking down on dissidents.

The effort grew after large-scale protests in 2018 that were brutally suppressed by the government.

Since then, the government has arrested enemies, religious leaders, journalists and others, causing thousands of people to flee the country. It has also confiscated hundreds of Nicaraguan citizens and their property.

Since 2018, it has also closed more than 5,000 non-governmental organizations, mainly religious groups, as well as local clubs and research institutes.

In recent days, lawyers have seen their licenses to practice law in Nicaragua revoked without explanation from the Supreme Court of Justice, according to Reed Brody, an American human rights lawyer and member of the UN expert group on the Central American country.

Some lawyers also confirmed that their licenses were revoked.

There was no official information available, and the Nicaraguan government did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.

Brody said the number of layoffs was not immediately known, but “it looks like hundreds, if not thousands of attorneys” will be affected.

“This follows a pattern we’ve seen over the years.” First, they shut down non-governmental organizations, universities, independent media. You know, they went after the churches, and now it looks like a law enforcement project,” Brody said. “Anyone who can stand between the government and the citizens.”

Brody said he knows at least 20 lawyers who were involved.

Juan Diego Barberena, a lawyer and human rights defender in Costa Rica since 2022, was one of those who had his license revoked and said he knew at least 25 friends like him.

On Thursday, Barberena tried to get his license from a state database and said his name and license number had been removed.

“This is a way to show the oppressive regime in the legal profession,” said Barberena. This means that a dictatorship can decide who should and who should not.

This is in line with other measures taken by the government in recent years.

Many people who were in exile in Nicaragua who were deprived of their citizenship rights and called “stateless” have told similar stories. They or their relatives search for their birth certificates and other legal documents in official databases, only to be told they don’t exist.

But Barberena and Brody said the authorities’ actions this week were a step forward, noting that those who were removed from the system were not just protesters. Some were Nicaraguans living abroad.

Some work in criminal or family law cases that don’t involve politics, while others were civil servants, Barberena said.

Brody framed it as a way to take away the independence of the courts under the Ortega and Murillo regime.

“On the other hand, it’s an unreasonable way to punish people who don’t have political affiliations,” Barberena said. “On the other hand, it is a dictatorship that appears to be middle-class and wants to prevent lawyers, experts and academics from participating in the future of the institutions of this country.