Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua

1. Establishment

The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) was created for a period of one year by Resolution 49/3 on the promotion and protection of human rights in Nicaragua, adopted by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) on 31 March 2022.

2. Mandate

The HRC mandated the GHREN:

• to submit a report to the HRC at its fifty-second session (February/March 2023);
• to conduct thorough and independent investigations into all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Nicaragua since April 2018, including the possible gender dimensions of such violations and abuses, and their structural root causes;
• to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged violations and abuses, to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze information and evidence and, where possible, to identify those responsible, and to make such information accessible and usable in support of ongoing and future accountability efforts;
• to make recommendations with a view to improving the situation of human rights, to provide guidance on access to justice and accountability, as appropriate, and to ensure a victim-centered approach, including by addressing the impact of multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination; and
• to engage with all relevant stakeholders, including the Government of Nicaragua, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), international human rights organizations, relevant UN agencies and civil society, with a view to exchanging information, as appropriate, and providing support for national, regional and international efforts to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses in Nicaragua.

3. Composition

1. Members of the GHREN. The Group is comprised of the following three Experts appointed by the President of the HRC to serve in their personal capacities: Jan-Michael Simon (Germany), Chairperson of the GHREN, Alexandro Álvarez (Chile) and Ángela María Buitrago (Colombia).¹ 
2. The Secretariat. OHCHR provides technical support to the GHREN through a Secretariat headed by a Coordinator and comprised of human rights experts in various fields that include, in principle, investigations, reporting and analysis, law, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), and victim/witness protection. The Secretariat is based in Panama City, Panama. The Coordinator joined the Secretariat on 2 July. The recruitment of the rest of the Secretariat staff is ongoing.

4. Funding

Being mandated by a resolution of the HRC, funding for the GHREN is through the regular budget of the UN. The three members of the GHREN are professional volunteers who do not receive any remuneration. The Secretariat is staffed with UN personnel. The UN assumes the costs of transportation and lodging in the different cities to which the GHREN must travel.

The GHREN has the smallest Secretariat of current HRC mandated investigatory mechanisms. OHCHR had recommended to establish 12 positions to staff the Secretariat, including: one coordinator, one investigation team leader, one gender adviser/investigator, one reporting officer, one media adviser (2023 only), one legal officer, one victim protection officer, two investigators, one security sector adviser, one information and evidence officer, and one administrative officer. The UN General Assembly’s Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) has recommended the approval for the year 2022 to finance 10 instead of the recommended 12 positions, cutting the positions of the legal officer and the security sector adviser. The General Assembly’s Fifth Committee has followed the ACABQ recommendation. The Fifth Committee is charged with overseeing the budget of the entire UN.

5. Legal Framework

The GHREN will apply International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law. It will also consider other obligations under international law, as applicable and where relevant. In doing so, the GHREN will apply treaty law and customary international law, as appropriate. It will also include Nicaraguan domestic law, where pertinent.

6. Standard of Proof

In accordance with the general practice of UN investigatory bodies, the GHREN will apply the standard of proof of “reasonable grounds”. This means that findings will be included in the reports where the “reasonable grounds” standard of proof has been met, namely, where based on a body of verified information, an objective and ordinary prudent observer would have reasonable grounds to conclude that the facts took place as described and, where legal conclusions are drawn, that these facts meet all the elements of a violation or abuse and any individual identified is responsible for the violation or abuse.

7. Scope of Work

The temporal and material scope of work of the GHREN is broad. The temporal scope is the period covered from April 2018 onwards. The material scope consists of all alleged human rights violations and abuses, including the possible gender dimensions of such violations and abuses, and to establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of such violations and abuses. The scope of the investigative work will take into account the time and resources available to the GHREN to carry out its work. The GHREN will take into consideration the gravity of the violations and abuses; the victims and perpetrators involved; the importance of an integrated gender perspective, and the importance of reporting larger patterns of violations and abuses. The material scope of the GHREN also includes making recommendations with a view to improving the situation of human rights in Nicaragua, in particular in relation to access to justice and accountability.

The geographical scope of work is the territory of the Republic of Nicaragua, notwithstanding the GHREN’s ability to also investigate transboundary or cross-boundary facts under customary international law.

The subjects of investigation are the individuals and entities who have allegedly been involved in human rights violations and abuses in Nicaragua and related crimes since April 2018.

8. Guiding Principles

• Independence of the GHREN and its findings. The members of the GHREN will form their own conclusions and make their own recommendations entirely independently of and separately from any other body or agency.
• Impartiality of investigations, analysis and reporting.
• Complementarity, efficiency and avoidance of duplication of work regarding other initiatives on the promotion and protection of human rights in Nicaragua, including OHCHR mandates.
• Victim-centered approach in carrying out all aspects of its mandate, enabling and facilitating victims’ informed participation in the relevant work of the GHREN, including in the development of recommendations.
• ‘Do No Harm’, including protection of victims, witnesses and other sources of information, avoiding revictimization, and taking all feasible steps within its means to protect their safety and security, during the course and as a result of their cooperation.
• Ethical standards in interviewing victims and witnesses, respecting and ensuring respect for their privacy, interests and personal circumstances, in the light of their age, sex, sexual orientation, gender and health, and taking into account the nature of the violations and abuses, in particular where they involve sexual and gender-based violence or violence against children.
• Prior and informed consent of victims, witnesses and other sources to publicize relevant information, documentation and evidence and/or to share it with competent authorities.
• Confidentiality of information, documentation and evidence, and of the sources, in line with the UN policies on information sensitivity, classification and handling.
• Verification of information and its preservation, including procedures and methods of work regarding chains of custody issues, data protection, security, information and case management and archiving, in conformity to international standards and drawn upon the good practices of other comparable international mandates.
• Safety and security for experts and secretariat staff, as well as for information gathered and sources.
• Referral of victims, witnesses and other sources in need who cooperate with the GHREN, in particular, children, women and victims of sexual and gender-based violence, to relevant bodies so that they are provided with appropriate medical and psychosocial support.
• Guidance and support for efforts to promote accountability in other jurisdictions outside the territory of Nicaragua is provided only regarding jurisdictions that respect human rights law and standards, including the right to a fair trial, and only in support of cases where the death penalty would not apply. The GHREN also generally does not provide assistance in circumstances in which a trial may be held when the defendant is not present (in absentia).

9. Collection and use of information

The GHREN will aim to securely and safely collect first-hand information, including through interviews with direct witnesses and victims of alleged human rights violations and abuses and related crimes, and interviews with other sources who can provide information about the organizational structure of entities involved in such violations and crimes and their chains of command. The GHREN will also seek to collect information and documentation relevant to its inquiries from States, relevant bodies and agencies of the UN system, the Organization of American States (OAS), civil society, the media, and other relevant actors. The GHREN will apply a differentiated methodology depending on the type of information being collected (facts, perpetrators, structures, among others) and the sources providing such information.

10. Engagement and co-ordination

The GHREN has sought to establish contact with the authorities of the Government of Nicaragua with a view to engage in a constructive dialogue and to sharing information aimed at fulfilling the mandate given by the Human Rights Council, and remains committed to engagement with authorities. Of note, on 24 May 2022 the Government of Nicaragua sent a Note Verbale to the President of the Human Rights Council indicating that it “does not accept the designation […] and does not recognize any legitimacy or legality” of the GHREN (see also Note Verbale of the Government of Nicaragua from 9 June 2022).

The GHREN engages with civil society. It coordinates with OHCHR, including its Regional Office for Central America (ROCA), and also looks forward to engage with other national, regional, and international entities/organizations in carrying out all aspects of its mandate, including the exchange of information with the OAS and the Inter-American Human Rights System.

¹ - Appointed 23 May 2022.