While the determination of the loss of nationality falls within the internal competence of states, this discretion is not absolute, as international law imposes certain limits on its exercise.14 The first is the duty of states to prevent, avoid and reduce statelessness. In accordance with this duty, states are obliged not to adopt practices or legislation “whose application contributes to increasing the number of stateless persons”.15 The second limit is the guarantee of equal and effective protection of the law without discrimination,16 which implies that states must ensure that “no one is denied or deprived of their nationality on the basis of discriminatory grounds”.17 2. Arbitrary exile and deprivation of nationality of human rights defenders and opponents of the regime On 9 February 2023, without warning, the Ortega-Murillo regime released 222 political prisoners and banished them.18 At around 4 a.m., these people were expelled by air to the United States.19 At 8:30 a.m., when they were already on the aeroplane,20 the decision of the Managua Court of Appeals was announced.21 According to the reading of the decision by Octavio Ernesto Rothschuh Andino, President of the First Chamber of the Court since 2021, all these people were “deported”, declared “traitors to the homeland” and their citizenship rights suspended for life.22 Deportation is a legal concept under migration law, that is only applicable to foreigners who commit crimes in another country. The expulsion of the 222 political prisoners amounted to exile, a practice prohibited under international human rights law.23 On this point, the Human Rights Committee24 has underlined that it is the duty of states to ensure that people enjoy their right to “remain in one’s own country”, which means that, among other measures, states must refrain from “enforced population transfers or mass expulsions to other countries”. On 9 February, the regime adopted an emergency constitutional reform to strip Nicaraguan nationality from all persons declared “traitors to the homeland”.25 The National Assembly approved the amendment in the first term, in a session that lasted less than 30 minutes, without prior publicity or debate.26 The reform constitutes a reversal of the provisions of Article 20 of the Nicaraguan Constitution, which expressly prohibits deprivation of nationality of Nicaraguan nationals.27 14. U  N Human Rights Council, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, Report of the Secretary-General, 14 December 2009, A/HRC/13/34, paras 19 and 20. 15. I/A Court H.R., Case of expelled Dominicans and Haitians v. Dominican Republic, Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs, Judgment of 28 August 2014, para. 256. 16. I/A Court H.R., Case of the Girls Yean and Bosico v. Dominican Republic, Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs, Judgment of 8 September 2005, Series C No. 130, para. 140. 17. U  N Human Rights Council, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, Report of the Secretary-General, 14 December 2009, A/HRC/13/34, para. 58. 18. F  IDH/CENIDH, Nicaragua: New turn in the human rights crisis, February 2023, p. 3, available at: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/ americas/nicaragua/nicaragua-new-turn-in-the-human-rights-crisis 19. F  IDH, “Nicaragua: 222 political prisoners released from jail and banished from the country”, 9 February 2023, available at: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/americas/nicaragua/nicaragua-222-political-prisoners-released-from-jail-and-banished 20. OHCHR, Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 10 August 2023, A/HRC/54/60, para. 28. 21. C  anal 4 Nicaragua, Transmisión especial desde el Complejo Judicial de Managua (Special broadcast from the Judicial Complex in Managua), 9 February 2023, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWHLqIJbWQA&lc=UgwhS3rKu8B3dmpbcx4AaABAg. See also: Judiciary, “Declaración del Magistrado Presidente de la Sala Penal Uno del Tribunal de Apelaciones de Managua” (Declaration of the President of the First Criminal Chamber of the Managua Court of Appeals), 10 February 2023, available at: https://www.poderjudicial.gob.ni/prensa/notas_prensa_detalle.asp?id_noticia=12261Una 22. F  IDH/CENIDH, Nicaragua: New turn in the human rights crisis, February 2023, p. 3, available at: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/ americas/nicaragua/nicaragua-new-turn-in-the-human-rights-crisis 23. Ibid. 24. U  N Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 27 (67), Freedom of Movement (Article 12), 1 November 1999, CCPR/C/21/ Rev.1/Add.9, para. 19. 25. F  IDH/CENIDH, Nicaragua: New turn in the human rights crisis, February 2023, p. 3, available at: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/ americas/nicaragua/nicaragua-new-turn-in-the-human-rights-crisis 26. 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. 30. 27. F  IDH/CENIDH, Nicaragua: New turn in the human rights crisis, February 2023, p. 3, available at: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/ americas/nicaragua/nicaragua-new-turn-in-the-human-rights-crisis FIDH - Exile and civil death 4