Freedom House Nicaraguan diaspora group ‘Juntos por Nicaragua’ living in exile in Costa Rica demonstrate with national flags outside the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in San José, on August 27, 2021, demanding it to intercede in the arrest of opposition politicians in their country. (Image credit: EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP via Getty Images) Nicaraguan Human Rights Defenders in Costa Rica: Brief Context Historic attacks against HRDs and CSOs Since the beginning of a second non-consecutive presidential term of Daniel Ortega in 2007, there has been a gradual but steady policy of persecution over the past 14 years of those who have expressed criticism of the Ortega-Murillo regime, especially against HRDs and CSOs. In particular, there have been measures implemented by the Ortega-Murillo regime to close spaces for activism and implement various forms of harassment and persecution such as the investigation against nine feminist activists for more than a year in 2007; the investigation and accusation of five organizations together with the raid on the Autonomous Movement of Women and the communication body CINCO; and at different times, impeding marches and mobilizations of different sectors of civil society and political movements. Under the Ortega-Murillo regime repression of protestors has posed a persistent threat, and activists have had to devise ways to circumvent infringement of their freedoms FreedomHouse.org 5