Nicaragua announces withdrawal from UN Human Rights Council

SAN JOSÉ, Feb 28 (AFP): Nicaragua announced on Thursday its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, after experts appointed by the organization accused President Daniel Ortega's government of widespread repression.

The decision to quit the council and all related activities was "irrevocable," Ortega's wife Rosario Murillo, who has been named "co-president" under contested reforms, told pro-government media.

"These disrespectful mechanisms have lost their nature and essence," she said, accusing UN bodies of attacking Nicaragua's sovereignty.

According to the UN, the experts found that Ortega and Murillo had "deliberately transformed the country into an authoritarian state where no independent institutions remain, opposition voices are silenced."