In April 2018, spontaneous social protests broke out in Nicaragua in response to unpopular reforms to the university and social security systems. These took place against the backdrop of prior electoral irregularities and a number of constitutional and legal reforms that increasingly concentrated political power in the hands of the executive - particularly Daniel Ortega and his wife and Vice President, Rosario Murillo.
Hundreds of people were injured, killed and arbitrarily detained during the protests. A subsequent report by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) for Nicaragua concludes that the State’s response was disproportionate and that it committed serious and systematic human rights abuses in its response to the protests.