4.2 Individuals who remain in Nicaragua According to the information available, two of those who have become stateless and remain on Nicaraguan territory are human rights defender Vilma Nuñez de Escorcia and Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos. They are in a situation of extreme defencelessness. On the one hand, they are experiencing systematic suppression of their human rights as a result of the arbitrary deprivation of their Nicaraguan nationality. On the other hand, they face repression by the Ortega-Murillo regime without access to any effective domestic remedy to protect them from the arbitrary exercise of public power. While Vilma Nuñez de Escorcia is under strict police siege,114 Bishop Rolando Álvarez is in state custody, in prison, and since 25 March 2023 his physical and psychological condition, as well as his location, have been unknown.115 On 28 November, the Ministry of the Interior published a press release stating that Bishop Rolando Álvarez had allegedly received family and medical visits between March and November 2023.116 Although the information published by the executive branch proves that the Bishop is in detention, it does not reliably prove either the conditions in which he is being held or his state of health. In cases such as theirs, known as “in situ” statelessness cases, the only appropriate protection option is the restoration of nationality.117 According to UNHCR, the profound connection of persons to their countries of birth and long-term residence, as well as the absence of links with other nations, imposes a “political and moral imperative” on the state to restore their nationality status.118 This is also the most rapid way to resolve the situation of stateless persons.119 The possibilities for the restoration of the rights of Vilma Nuñez de Escorcia and Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos are limited, as they depend exclusively on the discretion of the OrtegaMurillo regime. The actions taken by the authorities, with the adoption of orders that have exacerbated the effects of their statelessness, are indicative of their unwillingness to remedy the situation. In addition, the state of Nicaragua continues to fail to fulfil its international human rights commitments and to cooperate with UN bodies. On 23 October 2023, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nicaragua withdrew from the opening session of the periodic review by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) after making a statement containing “baseless accusations”. The Committee then had to proceed with the review without being able to engage in a constructive dialogue with the state delegation.120 This refusal was notwithstanding the Human Rights Council’s resolution of 27 March 2023, calling on the state of Nicaragua to cooperate fully with the Office of the High Commissioner, the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, and the relevant treaty bodies, “including during its upcoming review by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.”121 114. IACHR, Closure of civic space in Nicaragua, 23 September 2023, para. 67. 115. Office of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Communication to the State of Nicaragua, 2 August 2023, Ref: AL NIC 2/2023, p. 4. 116. Confidencial, “Ortega Regime Releases Photos of Alleged ‘Prison Visits’ To Bishop Rolando Álvarez”, 28 November 2023, available at: https://confidencial.digital/english/ortega-regime-releases-photos-of-alleged-prison-visits-to-bishop-rolandoalvarez/ 117. According to UNHCR, in these cases, the application of a statelessness determination procedure is not appropriate, since “the appropriate status for such individuals in their ‘own country’ is nationality of the State in question (...), in these cases the correct mechanism for determining an individual’s or a population group’s status is one that is concerned with the restoration or conferral of nationality.” UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons under the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Geneva, 2014, para. 165. 118. Ibid, para. 164. 119. UNHCR, Statelessness Determination Procedures: Identifying and Protecting Stateless Persons, August 2014, p. 9. 120. “ UN women’s rights committee deplores withdrawal of Nicaraguan Ambassador from public review”, 25 October 2023, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/un-womens-rights-committee-deplores-withdrawalnicaraguan-ambassador-public 121. Human Rights Council, Resolution on the promotion and protection of human rights in Nicaragua, A/HRC/52/L.38, 27 March 2023, para. 20. FIDH - Exile and civil death 14