Nicaragua forces 1,500 church and civil society groups to close

(CNN) — Nicaragua has revoked the registration of 1,500 non-profit organizations, the latest in a years-long crackdown in the small Central American nation.

The organizations, which include hundreds of religious groups, are accused of failing to report their financial statements for a period of between one and 35 years, according to a notice published Monday in the government gazette, La Gaceta.

Some associations effectively shuttered by the announcement were sports oriented, hosting basketball, tennis and soccer teams. There were groups for health, womens’ rights, LGBTQ rights, legal associations and veterans’ clubs. At least 695 of the groups were religiously-tied organizations.

The religious organizations targeted were overwhelmingly Christian, representing Catholic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal denominations, among others.

CNN has reached out to the Vatican and Pontifical Commission for Latin America for comment.

Earlier this month, Nicaragua canceled the legal status of the Diocese of Matagalpa’s Caritas for alleged bureaucratic reasons, according to Vatican News. The diocese is headed by Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a vocal critic of the government who lives in exile after being convicted of charges including conspiracy and treason.

United Nations Human Rights Office Spokesperson Liz Throssell called the closures “deeply alarming… in a country that has seen civic space fundamentally eroded in recent years and undue restrictions on religious freedom” in a statement released on Tuesday.

In total, more than 5,000 NGOs, media outlets, and private universities have had their legal statuses cancelled since late June 2022, Throssell added.

Civil liberties in Nicaragua have shrunk dramatically under the longtime leadership of authoritarian President Daniel Ortega, who claimed a fifth term in 2021.

In recent years, his government has arrested numerous opposition presidential candidates, journalists and human rights activists under a vague national security law. CNN en Español was forced off the air in Nicaragua in 2022.

Widespread anti-regime protests in 2018 were also met with brutal force, with Nicaraguan security forces killing hundreds of people, injuring thousands and arbitrarily detaining many, according to Human Rights Watch. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have fled the country.

In June, the United Nations expressed “grave concern” over the human rights situation in Nicaragua. At least 35 people have been arrested since March as part of a “crackdown on civic space,” said Nada al-Nashif, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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