Nicaragua

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Past ICTJ Activity

The ICTJ does not currently work in this country.

Responding to an initiative by President Bolaños, in May 2002 British aid officials asked the ICTJ to help assess whether a Nicaraguan truth commission should be established. The Center's staff conducted interviews with government and civil society representatives. Pointing to the need for Nicaragua to adopt a range of measures to promote impartiality, professionalism, and independence in state institutions, particularly the judiciary, the ICTJ's report also noted the existence of a high degree of disagreement and suspicion regarding past conflicts. The assessment mission concluded that conditions conducive to the establishment of an effective and credible truth commission did not exist. Before establishing any truth-seeking initiative, a broad process of prior consultation would be required, leading to a bona fide commitment to uncover the truth and pursue justice.

In 2007, this issue has arisen in a new political context, in which Nicaragua has established a peace and reconciliation commission. The ICTJ is following developments in this regard.

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Background

In 1979, the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) took power in Nicaragua after 40 years of authoritarian rule. During the first two years of FSLN rule, the human rights situation improved, but then deteriorated during more than six years of civil war between the government and the U.S.-backed Contras. In 1990, following peace negotiations and then elections, Violeta Chamorro took office as president. Although she established a Tripartite Commission to investigate some violent uprisings, the mainstay of the peace was a tacit agreement to reconcile without looking back.

Former President Enrique Bolaños won the November 2001 elections on an anticorruption platform, and contemplated the idea of also installing a truth commission to address past human rights abuses. However, during his administration he did not implement this idea.

In January 2007, Jose Daniel Ortega Saavedra, who served his first term as President from 1985 to 1990, assumed the presidency for a second term. The same month, a Commission for Reconciliation and Peace was created. The mandate of the Commission is to identify victims of the violence and armed conflict in order to achieve a strong and durable peace, and bring unity and reconciliation to the people of Nicaragua. The Commission is comprised of a chair, six delegates from institutions that represent retired members of the Sandinista army, members of the contra groups and associations of combatants' relatives, and an Executive Secretary.

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(Updated June 2008)