Human rights violations increased in January, according to Monitoreo Azul y Blanco, which reports more cases of harassment, threats, and detentions.
Por Confidencial
HAVANA TIMES — At least 66 human rights violations were documented in Nicaragua during January 2026, amid a context of a “stepped up repressive pattern” of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, according to the latest report by Monitoreo Azul y Blanco.
Human rights violations rose from 20 reported in December 2025 to 66 cases in January 2026, representing a 230% increase, according to data from the human rights organization.
Between November 2025 and January 2026, the Monitoring group recorded a total of 100 arbitrary detentions. Of that total, 59 people were released days or weeks after the events, while 41 remained in arbitrary detention at the close of the report.
The highest number of detentions occurred in January, when the organization registered 73 cases, 69 of which were related to the publication on social media of “positive messages” about what occurred in Venezuela with Nicolás Maduro.
Twenty-six percent of those detentions were concentrated in Managua, followed by Matagalpa (25%), Chontales (21%), Jinotega (10%), Madriz (7%), Chinandega (5%), and the North Caribbean Coast (3%).
The arrests — according to Monitoreo Azul y Blanco — took place without “judicial warrant or legal basis.” Families were not informed of the detainees’ whereabouts or legal status, which constitutes “forced disappearances.”
The report notes that, in numerous cases, it was not possible to identify the profile of the detainees due to “self-censorship among the population,” motivated by “threats against family members” to prevent them from reporting the incidents.
Torture of detainees for expressing opinions about Venezuela
One of the individuals detained for commenting on social media about what happened in Venezuela reported that they were “violently captured in their home.” Eleven National Police agents, the dictatorship’s main repressive arm, detained them and subjected her to “forced nudity, constant interrogations, hunger, thirst, and threats, including attempts to fabricate drug trafficking charges to force confessions.”
This person remained for three days “without minimum conditions, with insufficient food, without access to legal defense or communication with family members and she was also forced to delete her social media accounts and to report daily to sign in, under surveillance.”
The report also denounces “coercion” against state workers, as public institutions and political operatives pressured employees to share messages of support for the Maduro regime on their personal social media and WhatsApp accounts.
At the same time, the regime ordered its political operators to maintain “territorial and virtual surveillance.”
Surveillance also extended to political prisoners released in November 2025 and January 2026, who have been subjected to constant visits and interrogations to monitor their activities and report any opposition activity.
Religious and migration repression
In January, the Monitoring group confirmed that religious repression continues in the country. The organization documented the following situations:
• Arbitrary detention of a pastor in the department of Matagalpa. The motives were not disclosed and he was released days later.
• Interrogations of parishioners in Estelí, Jinotega, and Matagalpa, who were required to present identification cards.
• In León, ecclesial communities were prohibited from continuing house-to-house evangelization activities.
The Monitoring group also warned about the use of migration policy as a mechanism of punishment. At least four Nicaraguan citizens were prevented from re-entering the country after traveling abroad, while another four opted for self-exile as a protective measure against personal persecution, surveillance, threats, and risk of arbitrary detention.
Cruel and inhuman treatment in prison
In addition, the Monitoring group recorded 13 incidents inside prisons involving political prisoners, who are victims of torture and “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.”
Reported cases include prolonged isolation, overcrowding, lack of ventilation, deprivation of water, insufficient or spoiled food, denial of medical care, and restrictions on communication with family members.
Alternate legislator and president of the Indigenous party Yatama, Nancy Elizabeth Henríquez James, presents “significant weight loss, physical weakness, memory problems, difficulties speaking and moving, without access to adequate medical care for her ailments.”
Likewise, political prisoner Jaime Navarrete remains in conditions of “confinement with limited ventilation — which worsens respiratory problems resulting from a nasal fracture — without access to bedding, with reading restrictions, and in a state of severe depression.”
The human rights violations reported in January 2026 represent a 40.4% increase compared to January 2025, when 47 cases were documented. The increase amounts to 19 additional violations year to year, confirming that repression has not only continued but intensified at the beginning of the year.
During 2025, the months with the highest number of incidents were April (75), July (73), and August (88). These peaks show that the repressive apparatus is activated more forcefully at specific moments, significantly raising the number of violations documented by Monitoreo Azul y Blanco.
Although a reduction was observed in the final months of 2025 — with 29 cases in October and November and 20 in December — there was a resurgence of cases in January 2026 associated with events in Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
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