NICARAGUA USCIRF–RECOMMENDED FOR SPECIAL WATCH LIST KEY FINDINGS I n 2020, religious freedom conditions in Nicaragua remained the same as in 2019. The government of Nicaragua maintained its campaign against the Catholic Church, continuing a pattern of harassment that began during April 2018 protests against reforms to the public pension system. Members of the Catholic Church acted upon their religious convictions by providing sanctuary to and voicing support for the protesters. Following the Church’s support of the protesters, President Daniel Ortega used his government and his supporters to persecute members of the clergy, worshippers, and Catholic organizations. Many of the abuses in 2020—violent attacks on churches, intimidation of worshippers, threats and hate speech, and harassment of Catholic institutions—emulate those committed by the Ortega regime since the civil uprising. The Ortega government harassed Catholic officials and institutions in ways that disrupted the normal functions of the Church. In September, the Diocese of Estelí announced that one of its priests had his visa cancelled. According to the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua, several other foreign-born priests who have worked in Nicaragua for decades face deportation. Additionally, the government repeatedly hampered the operations of the Church’s primary charitable organization, Caritas. Following the outbreak of COVID19, Caritas had its tax exemption status denied in April. Without the tax exemption, the organization is unable to withdraw foreign donations from customs. Additionally, the Regulation of Foreign Agents Law, passed in October, stipulates that citizens working for foreign governments, companies, foundations, or organizations are required to register as foreign agents with the Interior Ministry and must report monthly income and spending as well as the intended use of foreign funds. Among other concerns regarding the law’s impact on religious organizations, observers worry it could be used to hamper arbitrarily the operations of Caritas and other foreign humanitarian organizations that receive donations from abroad. As in preceding years, in 2020 senior members of the Ortega regime made inflammatory statements against the Catholic Church that contributed to the perilous environment in which the Church operated. For example, after President Ortega refused to initiate measures to safeguard the country against the COVID-19 pandemic and Catholic leaders expressed concern for the safety of Nicaraguans, Vice President Rosario Murillo, President Ortega’s wife, called Catholic leaders “demons” who espouse hatred. Gustavo Porras Cortés, the president of the National Assembly and member of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), falsely claimed on December 20 that priests beat and torture Sandinistas. Additionally, there were numerous violent attacks on Catholic churches around the country throughout the reporting period. These attacks usually involved known or suspected Ortega supporters forcibly entering churches and committing acts of vandalism and desecration. Often, perpetrators wore Sandinista emblems or colors. The most brazen instance of violence occurred in July, when an unknown assailant set off an incendiary device in a chapel attached to the Cathedral of Managua in what Catholic officials called a premeditated assault. The arson attack resulted in extensive damage to the interior of the building, including the charring of a 400-year-old wooden crucifix in the center of the room. It was not an isolated incident; USCIRF received reports indicating that nearly a dozen smaller attacks on churches occurred in the weeks leading up to and following the arson in Managua. Vice President Murillo peddled falsehoods against the Church in the wake of the attack when she baselessly claimed that a candle igniting a curtain was responsible for the blaze, despite neither candles nor curtains existing in the structure. The lack of credible government investigations into such attacks or prosecutions for perpetrators contributes to an environment of impunity for abuses against the Catholic Church. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT • Maintain Nicaragua on the U.S. Department of State’s Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA); • In addition to existing sanctions based on human rights violations, impose targeted sanctions on Nicaraguan government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/or barring their entry into the United States under human rights related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations; • Encourage multilateral organizations such as the Organization of American States to investigate religious freedom violations that occur in Nicaragua and hold to account the perpetrators or instigators of criminal acts; and KEY USCIRF RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES • Factsheet: Controlling Civil Society’s Purse Strings 80 USCIRF | ANNUAL REPORT 2021 • Support and collaborate with multilateral and/or nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners to monitor religious freedom violations and hate speech against religious actors, particularly ahead of the presidential election on November 7, 2021. The U.S. Congress should: • Hold public hearings highlighting religious freedom conditions in Nicaragua and U.S. policy toward Nicaragua.