Nicaragua Conducts a “Purge of the Legal Profession” by Revoking Lawyers’ Licenses
On July 10, the Associated Press reported that the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo had removed the professional licenses of potentially hundreds or thousands of lawyers from the Supreme Court’s official registry, without notice or explanation. Those affected included exiled human rights lawyers, attorneys with no political practice, Nicaraguans living abroad, and even some government sympathizers. UN expert Reed Brody described the campaign as a purge intended to eliminate people who might “stand between the government and citizens.” The measure follows the closure of independent media outlets, universities, churches, civil society organizations, and other institutions. By erasing lawyers’ professional status through an administrative database, the government is dismantling one of the last potential sources of independent legal representation and resistance.