The Cruel Isthmus: A Comparative Analysis of Reports on Crimes Against Humanity in El Salvador and Nicaragua
Introduction
Something smells rotten in the Central American isthmus. Voices are sounding the alarm that crimes against humanity may be being committed in that part of the world.
On September 21, 2026, the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua published the report "Anatomy of State Cruelty: Enforced Disappearance and Death in Custody in Nicaragua." In it, they state that there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Nicaragua since 2018.
In March and July 2026, the International Group of Experts for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations in the Context of the State of Exception in El Salvador (GIPES) and Amnesty International, respectively, published reports identifying probable crimes against humanity committed in El Salvador during the state of exception — beginning in March 2022.
This report offers a comparative analysis of the findings produced by these three entities for the cases of Nicaragua and El Salvador. It identifies similarities and differences, and concludes with recommendations aimed at maximizing the impact of these reports in advancing justice and reparations for victims in both countries.
1. The Nicaraguan Context
Nicaragua is an authoritarian regime. The regime has governed since January 10, 2007, when Daniel Ortega assumed the presidency. The Nicaraguan Constitution prohibited re-election, but first through a ruling by the Constitutional Chamber, and later through constitutional reforms, the regime has continued to govern for nineteen years.
Beginning with the widespread protests that took place from April to September 2018, the Nicaraguan regime initiated a repressive policy aimed at neutralizing opponents or those perceived as such. As of 2026, that repressive pattern has included human rights violations encompassing: arbitrary deprivation of nationality, restrictions on freedom of movement, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances, mass cancellation of legal personhood, confiscation of assets from civil society organizations, and severe restrictions on freedoms of expression and religion.
2. Crimes Against Humanity in Nicaragua
In March 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council established the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (hereinafter GHREN) to independently investigate human rights violations occurring since April 2018. GHREN is composed of specialists Jan-Michael Simon (Chairperson), Ariela Peralta Distéfano, and Reed Brody.
To date, the group has published five reports and nine complementary documents. The most recent is the report titled "Anatomy of State Cruelty: Enforced Disappearance and Death in Custody in Nicaragua," published on September 21, 2026. Its objective is to examine the possible perpetration of crimes against humanity in Nicaragua since 2018.
GHREN found a persistent pattern of arbitrary imprisonment. It also found the probable commission of acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, both during and after detention. In many cases, detainees were found to have died in State custody. The group also verified a strategy of carrying out enforced disappearances lasting several months or even years. It further determined that these acts were carried out with the purpose of silencing critical voices, as part of a discriminatory campaign on political grounds.
GHREN concluded that there is a "reasonable basis to believe" that these acts constitute widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population and amount to crimes against humanity.
To reach this conclusion, the group analyzed information gathered for its previous reports and additionally conducted 63 interviews and collected over 250 new documents. The report includes detailed accounts of 22 illustrative cases: 14 of enforced disappearances and 8 of deaths in custody. Particular attention was given to the case of Brooklyn Rivera Bryan, leader of the Miskitu people, who — following his exile and subsequent return to Nicaragua — was arbitrarily detained in September 2023, remained in a state of enforced disappearance until his death on May 30, 2026.
3. Crimes Against Humanity in El Salvador
3.1. The Salvadoran Context
El Salvador is a hybrid regime. Nayib Bukele has governed since June 1, 2019, when he assumed the presidency. The Constitution of El Salvador prohibited re-election, but first through a ruling by the Constitutional Chamber, and later through a constitutional amendment, Bukele has continued to govern for seven years.
Between March 25 and 27, 2022, the gangs — known as maras — committed 87 homicides. In response to this extraordinary situation, on March 27 the Legislative Assembly decreed a state of exception, suspending certain fundamental rights. Since its initial approval, the measure has been renewed on 54 occasions. The state of exception — which by its nature should be a temporary and extraordinary measure — has remained in force in El Salvador for over four and a half years.
3.2. The GIPES Report
In 2024, the International Group of Experts for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations in the Context of the State of Exception in El Salvador (hereinafter GIPES) was established. It is composed of jurists Susana SáCouto, Claudia Martín, Gino Costa, Santiago Cantón, and José Antonio Guevara. The group is backed by the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), InterJust, the IMPACTUM Research Project, and the Human Rights in Context Program at Ghent University (Belgium).
On March 11, 2026, GIPES published the report El Salvador at a Crossroads: Crimes Against Humanity Under the Public Security Policy. The report concludes that there is a "reasonable basis" to affirm that, in accordance with the Rome Statute, crimes against humanity have been committed within the state of exception.
GIPES identifies two groups of the civilian population in El Salvador against whom the attacks constituting the crime against humanity would be directed: 1. Gang members and persons perceived as such; and 2. Government opponents and persons perceived as such.
Regarding the first group, GIPES concluded there is a reasonable basis to maintain that the following attacks were committed: 1. Murder; 2. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; 3. Torture; 4. Enforced disappearances; 5. Rape and sexual violence; and 6. Other inhumane acts. In this last — broader — category, GIPES identified: forced nudity, denial of medical care to pregnant women, and forcing detainees to witness acts of aggression against other inmates.
Regarding the group of government opponents or those perceived as such, GIPES identified a reasonable basis for the following attacks: 1. Murder; 2. Persecution on political grounds; 3. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; and 4. Torture.
GIPES concluded that the attacks directed against both groups — gang members or those perceived as such, and opponents or those perceived as such — were perpetrated in compliance with the two elements required under the Rome Statute: that they were committed in a widespread and systematic manner.
3.3. The Amnesty International Report
On July 15, 2026, Amnesty International (hereinafter AI) published the report "Security" Without Rights: The Impact of Mass Arbitrary Detentions and the Denial of Due Process on the Possible Commission of Crimes Against Humanity in El Salvador. The report concludes that the facts analyzed during the state of exception suggest that crimes against humanity may be occurring in El Salvador.
AI identifies the civilian population as the primary target of the attacks constituting the probable crime against humanity. It further notes that the attacks appear to have a "selective and discriminatory" focus targeting civilians with certain characteristics: 1. Residing in particular areas; 2. Physical appearance; or 3. Belonging to impoverished social groups.
The study finds that the following attacks have probably been committed: 1. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; 2. Torture; 3. Enforced disappearances; and 4. Other inhumane acts. In this last — broader — category, AI focused on: imposition of detention conditions incompatible with human dignity, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of adequate medical care.
Finally, AI also indicates that the identified attacks occurred in both a widespread and systematic manner.
3. Comparative Analysis of the Reports on Nicaragua and El Salvador
3.1. Normative Basis for Crimes Against Humanity
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted in 1998. It established the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a permanent international tribunal with jurisdiction over the most serious crimes of international concern.
The ICC has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. A crime against humanity refers to a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population through any of the following acts: murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law, torture, rape, persecution, enforced disappearance, apartheid, or other inhumane acts of similar character.
El Salvador acceded to the Rome Statute in 2016. Accordingly, both GIPES and AI use the Rome Statute and the ICC's jurisprudential criteria as the normative framework for examining the probable commission of crimes against humanity in El Salvador.
Nicaragua has neither signed nor ratified the Rome Statute. Consequently, GHREN does not use it as a normative basis. Instead, it draws on three types of legal sources:
International treaties signed and ratified by Nicaragua, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Customary International Law, which, for example, establishes enforced disappearances as a crime against humanity.
Article 488 of the Nicaraguan Penal Code, which criminalizes crimes against humanity.
This difference between the two cases demonstrates that the absence of ratification of the Rome Statute does not preclude the determination of international obligations and responsibilities for the perpetration of crimes against humanity.
3.2. The Nature of the Reports
GHREN is a group established by the Human Rights Council, an intergovernmental body composed of 47 states and part of the United Nations system. The report produced by GHREN on the case of Nicaragua is therefore a product generated from within the UN system, intended to serve as specialized advisory input to an organ that is itself part of that system.
GIPES, on the other hand, is a group of human rights specialists promoted and supported by a coalition of non-governmental human rights organizations, with no public character and not integrated into any intergovernmental system. Similarly, AI is a global, non-governmental, independent, non-profit, membership-based movement. Both GIPES and AI are therefore private entities specializing in human rights, neither of which was created by subjects of international law established by intergovernmental organizations, nor do they form part of any such system.
This difference in institutional nature does not diminish the analytical value of reports produced by non-intergovernmental entities. Rather, it illustrates that respect, protection, and the guarantee of human rights emerge from plural sources — both from States and from civil society. Effective action flows from the complementarity of governmental and private actors.
3.3. The Civilian Population
A fundamental element of crimes against humanity is that the attacks must be directed against a civilian population.
For El Salvador, GIPES identifies two groups targeted by the attacks: 1. Gang members and those perceived as such; and 2. Government opponents and those perceived as such. AI focuses on the first group only, characterizing the targets as historically impoverished and stigmatized communities.
For Nicaragua, GHREN indicates that the attacks are directed against actual or perceived political opponents, or individuals linked to those considered opponents .
In terms of the civilian victims of the probable crimes against humanity, the greatest convergence exists between GIPES (El Salvador) and GHREN (Nicaragua). AI, for its part, focused its analysis on a Salvadoran population characterized by historical impoverishment and stigmatization — a characteristic that GHREN does not examine in its analysis of Nicaragua.
3.4. The Attacks
For El Salvador, the probable attacks identified by both GIPES and AI are: 1. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; 2. Torture; 3. Enforced disappearances; and 4. Other inhumane acts. Regarding this last category, GIPES identifies: forced nudity, denial of medical care to pregnant women, and forcing inmates to witness acts of aggression against other detainees. AI, for its part, identifies: imposition of detention conditions incompatible with human dignity, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of adequate medical care.
For Nicaragua, GHREN has determined that the attacks constituting the probable crime against humanity are: 1. Imprisonment; 2. Torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; and 3. Enforced disappearances. The typology of attacks identified therefore coincides with that found in El Salvador.
3.5. The Perpetrators
The GIPES and AI reports focus on examining the objective elements of crimes against humanity but do not identify potential individual perpetrators.
GHREN does identify those who could potentially bear individual responsibility for crimes against humanity in Nicaragua. It names co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, as well as senior officials of the National Police, the National Penitentiary System, and other officials of the Sandinista National Liberation Front. GHREN has found no written orders from the co-presidents directing the commission of the probable crimes against humanity; however, based on a comprehensive assessment of all the evidence examined, it concludes that they exercise centralized control and that these acts could have been ordered by them.
3.6. The Paths to Justice
The reports by GIPES, AI, and GHREN all direct recommendations to external actors, based on their respective analyses of the situations in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Among these recommendations, they propose the initiation of judicial proceedings to prosecute the probable crimes against humanity in both countries.
Regarding El Salvador, GIPES and AI recommend that States Parties to the Rome Statute refer the situation in El Salvador to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. They also recommend that states in the international community use their domestic criminal justice systems as mechanisms for universal jurisdiction.
In the case of Nicaragua — given that it is not a party to the Rome Statute — GHREN does not recommend activating proceedings before the ICC. However, it joins GIPES and AI in recommending that states in the international community exercise universal jurisdiction through their domestic criminal justice systems. It further urges that, when victims are nationals or residents of the forum state, concrete criminal investigations be initiated without delay.
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
4.1. Conclusions
There is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in both El Salvador and Nicaragua — in El Salvador since 2022, and in Nicaragua since 2018.
The normative basis for the probable crimes against humanity in El Salvador is the Rome Statute. Since Nicaragua is not a party to that instrument, the applicable normative framework consists of international treaties it has signed and ratified — including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Convention against Torture — as well as Customary International Law and Article 488 of the Nicaraguan Penal Code.
The absence of ratification of the Rome Statute does not preclude the determination of international obligations and responsibilities with respect to the perpetration of crimes against humanity.
The report on crimes against humanity in Nicaragua originates from an expert group established within the United Nations system. In the case of El Salvador, the published reports are authored by private organizations specializing in human rights.
The different institutional nature of the entities behind the Nicaragua and El Salvador analyses illustrates that respect, protection, and the guarantee of human rights emerge from plural sources — encompassing both States and civil society.
For both El Salvador and Nicaragua, the civilian population identified as victim of the probable crimes against humanity includes political opponents or persons perceived as such. For El Salvador, a second victim group has also been identified: gang members or those perceived as such.
The types of attacks constituting the probable crimes against humanity in both Nicaragua and El Salvador are: 1. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; 2. Torture; 3. Enforced disappearances; and 4. Other inhumane acts.
Regarding El Salvador, no probable individual perpetrators of crimes against humanity have been identified to date. For Nicaragua, probable perpetrators have been identified: co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, senior officials of the National Police and the National Penitentiary System, and other officials of the Sandinista National Liberation Front.
With respect to the probable crimes against humanity committed in El Salvador, the available judicial paths are referral to the International Criminal Court and proceedings before the domestic criminal justice systems of states exercising universal jurisdiction. For Nicaragua, only the mechanisms of universal jurisdiction may be activated.
4.2. Recommendations
To States members of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Promote the establishment of a specialized mechanism or working group within the UN Human Rights Council to conduct ongoing and prioritized monitoring of the human rights situation and the deterioration of the rule of law in El Salvador.
To GHREN, GIPES, and AI: Establish a channel for strategic dialogue and cooperation aimed at consolidating a coordinated documentation front, sharing methodologies for investigating crimes against humanity, and maximizing the effectiveness of their actions and the implementation of the recommendations they have issued.
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