94 Nicaraguans of undermining national integrity and declared them “traitors to the homeland” and “fugitives from justice”. They also ordered the permanent loss of their citizenship rights and the deprivation of their nationality, in accordance with Law No. 1145. These decisions were made without any prior procedure in which the persons concerned could present their defence.39 Among the 94 people convicted were human rights defenders, journalists, writers and academics, most of whom were in forced exile at the time they were rendered stateless by the regime.40 Others were forced to leave the country irregularly, three days after the decision, taking with them only their identity documents and the clothes they were wearing.41 From this group, the human rights defender Vilma Nuñez de Escorcia, President and founder of CENIDH, one of the most emblematic human rights organisations in the country, remains in Nicaragua.42 Despite the arbitrary withdrawal of its legal status and the confiscation of its assets by the regime, CENIDH has continued its work, which began more than 33 years ago, in the struggle for freedom and democracy, documenting and denouncing repression and supporting victims in their search for truth and justice. Vilma Nuñez de Escorcia is currently FIDH Deputy Secretary General and was shortlisted, together with Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos, for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.43 This award is the highest tribute paid by the European community, through the European Parliament, to individuals and organisations for their outstanding contribution to the protection of human rights. The arbitrary nature of depriving 317 individuals of their Nicaraguan nationality is reflected in four aspects. First, the imposition of this sanction did not observe the principle of legality,44 according to which the state should have adopted a sufficiently precise legal basis to allow a person to reasonably foresee the consequences of actions which trigger a withdrawal of nationality.45 The conduct referred to in Law No. 1055, which would give rise to a declaration as “traitor to the homeland”, 46 is formulated in excessively vague and imprecise terms,47 failing to provide a clear indication of the conduct that would lead to the loss of nationality.48 Moreover, Law No. 1145, in addition to being unconstitutional,49 was applied retroactively, by drawing adverse consequences from actions that took place prior to its enactment.50 This also constitutes a violation of the principle of legality, since persons can only be deprived of their nationality for acts or omissions which, at the time of their commission, carried this consequence.51 39. F  IDH, “Nicaragua: Revocación arbitraria de la nacionalidad a la presidenta del CENIDH Vilma Núñez” (Nicaragua: Arbitrary deprivation of the nationality of CENIDH President Vilma Núñez), 16 February 2023, available at: https://www.fidh.org/es/ temas/defensores-de-derechos-humanos/nicaragua-revocacion-arbitraria-de-la-nacionalidad-a-la-presidenta 40. Ibid. 41. Office of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Communication to the State of Nicaragua, 18 September 2023, Ref: AL NIC 3/2023, pp. 5 and 7. 42. F  IDH, “Nicaragua: Revocación arbitraria de la nacionalidad a la presidenta del CENIDH Vilma Núñez” (Nicaragua: Arbitrary deprivation of the nationality of CENIDH President Vilma Núñez), 16 February 2023, available at: https://www.fidh.org/es/ temas/defensores-de-derechos-humanos/nicaragua-revocacion-arbitraria-de-la-nacionalidad-a-la-presidenta 43. F  IDH, “Nicaragua: Vilma Nuñez and Bishop Alvarez nominated for European Parliament Human Rights Prize”, 20 September 2023, available at: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/americas/nicaragua/nicaragua-vilma-nunez-and-bishopalvarez-nominated-for-european 44. O  HCHR, Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 10 August 2023, A/HRC/54/60, para. 43. 45. U  NHCR, Guidelines on statelessness No.5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality under Articles 5-9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Distr. GENERAL HCR/GS/20/05, May 2020, para. 92. 46. L  aw No. 1055 of 2020 De Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo a la Independencia (on the defence of the rights of the people to independence) establishes that “the addressees of this law will be considered “traitors to the homeland” under such criminal offences as “acts of treason”, “crimes that jeopardise peace” and “crimes against the Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua”, disqualifying them from running for elected office (article 1)”. FIDH/CENIDH, Nicaragua: Las nuevas leyes de la represión (The New Laws of Repression), November 2021, available at: https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/obs_nicaragua_04.pdf 47. Ibid, p. 19. 48. O  ffice of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Communication to the State of Nicaragua, 13 July 2023, Ref: OL NIC 1/2023, p. 3. 49. A  s stated above, the constitutional reform that authorises the deprivation of nationality of persons declared to be “traitors to the homeland” has not yet been approved in accordance with the established constitutional procedure. Furthermore, both the reform and Law No. 1145 are contrary to Article 20 of the Constitution, which prohibits the deprivation of nationality of a Nicaraguan native. 50. O  ffice of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Communication to the State of Nicaragua, 13 July 2023, Ref: OL NIC 1/2023, pp. 4 and 5. 51. T  his provision follows from the general principle that “a person may not be tried for conduct that was not an offence at the time the conduct occurred”. UNHCR, Guidelines on statelessness No.5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality under Articles 5-9 of the FIDH - Exile and civil death 6