A/HRC/57/60 19. Nicaragua 143. The cases of Mr. Guillermo Gonzalo Carrión Maradiaga and Ms. Haydee Isabel Castillo Flores were included in the 2019 report149 of the Secretary-General on allegations of vilification by public officials, criminalization, and surveillance for sharing information on human rights violations with OHCHR. Mr. Carrion is a lawyer and human rights defender who was the legal director of the now dissolved Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) and founder of the Human Rights Collective Nicaragua Never Again. Ms. Castillo is a woman human rights defender with the now dissolved Instituto de Liderazgo de Las Segovias-ILLS and Nicaragüenses en el Mundo (NEEM). 144. On 18 September 2023, mandate holders addressed allegations of judicial harassment of human rights defenders, including Mr. Carrion and Ms. Castillo. On 15 February 2023, the Court of Appeals of Managua applied Special Laws 1055 150 and 1145151 to 94 individuals stripping them of their nationality and confiscating their assets in the country after they were declared traitors to the homeland, including Mr. Carrión and Ms. Castillo. On 9 and 11 May 2023, the Supreme Court of Justice, in two different resolutions, disbarred 26 lawyers and notaries, one of whom was Mr. Carrion, as a consequence of the application of Special Law 1145 (NIC 3/2023). 145. The case of Ms. Vilma Núñez de Escorcia, an 85-year-old woman human rights defender and head of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), was included in the 2020, 2021 and 2023 reports of the Secretary-General152 on allegations of harassment, police surveillance and denial of healthcare services following her engagement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2019. On 15 February 2023, the Managua Court of Appeals stripped Ms. Núñez of her nationality, declared her “fugitive from justice,” and requested the confiscation of her properties. 146. In its 2023 report to the Human Rights Council, the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua referred to the situation of Ms. Núñez as an emblematic case of persecution of and pressure to leave the country on those perceived as opposing the authorities. The Group of Experts noted that by remaining in the country in a situation of statelessness, Ms. Núñez suffers the daily denial of all her human rights, for instance her pension was cancelled, and her marriage is non-existent before the law. Experts also noted that Ms. Nuñez is a victim of constant harassment and surveillance (A/HRC/55/CRP.3, para. 107).153 147. The Group of Experts reported that Ms. Núñez filed an appeal against Special Law No. 1145 arguing that it is unconstitutional, the receipt of which was acknowledged by the clerk of the Supreme Court of Justice, but at the time of writing had not been processed. In May 2023, Ms. Núñez also filed a writ of amparo against the National Council of Administration and Judicial Career of the Supreme Court of Justice against her disbarment from the professions of lawyer and public notary. On 26 May 2023, the First Civil Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Managua decided not to admit the appeal for amparo due to the fact that Ms. Núñez lost her Nicaraguan nationality and her rights as citizen (A/HRC/55/CRP.3, para. 143). 149 150 151 152 153 GE.24-14259 A/HRC/42/30, Annex I paras. 78–79. Law on the Defence of the People’s Rights to Independence, Sovereignty and Self-Determination for Peace (1055). Special law regulating the loss of Nicaraguan nationality (1145). A/HRC/45/36, Annex I para. 89; A/HRC/48/28, Annex II paras. 102–103; A/HRC/54/61, Annex II para. 116. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/grhe-nicaragua/OA-GHREN54HRC-12SSEP23_English.docx. 61