UN Experts do not rule out a connection between the Government of Nicaragua and the murder of people in exile
AFP published in La Prensa, June 24, 2025
A group of UN experts pointed out this Tuesday [June 24, 2025] that it is important to not rule out the possibility that the government of Nicaragua participated in the murder of a retired Nicaraguan soldier in Costa Rica, given that it follows the same “pattern” that the “co-presidents” Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo use against dissidents in exile.
The retired major Roberto Samcam, 66 years of age, was gunned down Thursday [June 19, 2025] by hitmen in his home in the Costa Rican capital, where he was exiled since 2018.
Samcam was a strong critic of Ortega and Murillo, accused of installing a “family dictatorship” in Nicaragua.
“We have documented that human rights violations against Nicaraguans on the part of the Government do not end at the border of the country,” said Ariela Peralta, member of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua of the United Nations.
“The tactics of the Government to control and silence dissidents outside the country included threats, financial pressure, denied entry into the country, refusal of consular services or passports, arbitrary loss of citizenship, harassment, surveillance and coercion of relatives,” added Peralta in a press statement released in Panama.
For these reasons, the expert warned that “the possibility that the murder of Roberto Samcam is part of that pattern should not be ruled out.”
The soldier was buried on Sunday in a cemetery of San José amidst cries for justice for the crime, condemned by the group of experts and several governments.
In 2022 the Nicaraguan exile Rodolfo Rojas Cordero was found dead in Honduras, and in 2021 and 2024 the dissident Joao Maldonado was shot in Costa Rica, the panel recalled.
“No place in the world seems to be safe for Nicaraguans who are opposed to the Government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo,” indicated Reed Brody, another member of the group, who asked “countries to receive” the exiles to “increase their protection.”
Ortega, a 79 year old former guerilla, and Murillo, 74 years old, increased control against dissidents after the anti-government protests of 2018 that left more than 300 dead, according to the UN, and considered by Managua as a coup attempt sponsored by Washington.
Hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans are in exile, principally in Costa Rica, the United States and Spain.
