Nicaragua tortured at least 229 political prisoners, rights group says

At least 229 people detained in Nicaragua for political reasons have suffered various forms of torture and other "crimes against humanity" at the hands of the government over the past seven years, a human rights NGO said on Tuesday.

The Nicaragua Never Again Human Rights Collective said in a report that it had documented the torture of 183 men and 46 women out of some 2,000 people arrested in connection to 2018 anti-government protests.

Nicaraguan Vice President and government spokesperson Rosario Murillo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ortega's government in the past has ignored reports from NGOs, as well as from the UN and the Organization of American States, saying they are part of an international campaign against it.

The NGO, which is based in neighboring Costa Rica, said at least 178 of those who testified reported suffering abuse such as beatings, beatings with weapons, rape, death threats and threats or aggression against family members.

It said it identified over 40 forms of torture through the testimonies, including 159 cases of beatings, 22 of asphyxiation or strangulation, 17 cases of electric shocks, 21 burns with plastic or iron and 18 fingernail or tooth removals.

At least 117 people were deprived of medical attention and 85 kept in isolation for over two weeks, it said.

The majority of detentions were violent and arbitrary and detainees were not presented with an arrest warrant, the NGO said, while in 40% of cases they reported "participation of paramilitary agents who have acted as a third armed force."

The report accused President Daniel Ortega's Sandinista government of committing crimes against humanity.

The U.N. Human Rights Office had on Monday issued a warning in which it said the situation was continuing to deteriorate in Nicaragua, where citizens were subject to a "severe and repressive climate."

Nicaragua's government has recently passed a set of reforms that critics say formalize President Ortega's already broad-ranging power over the state. These include an expansion to presidential powers and those of the police and military.