On political prisoners in Nicaragua – the cases of Carlos Brenes, Salvadora del Socorro Martínez Aburto and Brooklyn RiveraTXTTITLE@TITLE@

B100292/2026

European Parliament resolution on political prisoners in Nicaragua – the cases of Carlos Brenes, Salvadora del Socorro Martínez Aburto and Brooklyn Rivera

(2026/2765(RSP))

The European Parliament,

having regard to its previous resolutions on Nicaragua,

having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas since 2018, the Ortega-Murillo regime has dismantled democratic institutions, the separation of powers and the rule of law, while persecuting political opponents, journalists, students, clergy, indigenous leaders, human-rights defenders, civil society, relatives of critics;

whereas the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua concluded that serious violations committed since 2018 may amount to crimes against humanity; whereas civic space has been all but closed: over 5600 NGOs dissolved, independent media and universities shut down, and hundreds of thousands forced into exile;

whereas human-rights organisations, including the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners, continue to document arbitrary arrests, prolonged incommunicado detention and enforced disappearances; whereas the UN reported in October 2025 that over 120 persons have been forcibly disappeared since 2018;

whereas Carlos Ramón Brenes Sánchez, a retired Sandinista colonel, and his wife Salvadora del Socorro Martínez Aburto, both elderly and in poor health, were detained in August 2025, held incommunicado and reportedly sentenced to 15 years for “treason” without due process;

whereas Brooklyn Rivera, Miskitu Indigenous leader and president of the arbitrarily dissolved Yatama party, was detained in September 2023, held in enforced disappearance for over 32 months and died in State custody on 30 May 2026;

Strongly condemns the Ortega-Murillo regime's systematic use of repression, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, sham trials, exile, denationalisation and confiscation of property against opponents;

Demands immediate and unconditional release of Carlos Brenes, Salvadora Martínez and all political prisoners, the annulment of politically motivated convictions, and full information on their fate, whereabouts, health and detention conditions;

Urges the authorities to grant all detainees access to their families, lawyers, medical care and international monitoring, in accordance with the Nelson Mandela Rules;

Calls for a prompt, independent and international investigation into Brooklyn Rivera’s death in custody, the return of his remains to his family and accountability for those responsible;

Condemns the persecution of Christian churches, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, opponents and their relatives, and calls for the reinstatement of all arbitrarily dissolved organisations;

Calls on the EU to ensure that no EU or multilateral funds strengthen the regime, to expand targeted sanctions against those responsible, including judges, prosecutors and prison officials;

Calls on the Member States to support accountability, including through universal jurisdiction and international justice mechanisms, to ensure that those responsible for crimes against humanity are brought to justice;

Recalls that the EU-Central America Association Agreement entered into force on 1 May 2024; calls on the Council and the Commission to trigger its democratic clause and suspend its application to Nicaragua while repression persists; stresses that Parliament will under no circumstances engage with regime representatives within the newly established Association Parliamentary Committee;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, the Member States, the UN, the OAS and the Nicaraguan authorities.