A/HRC/RES/58/18 human rights in the administration of justice, and reaffirming the Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering (the Méndez Principles), Expressing grave concern at continuing reports of trials of persons who were arbitrarily detained, which have been held without respect for due process or international fair trial guarantees, including the rights to legal counsel of their own choosing, to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, and to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of a defence, and strongly condemning the reported fabrication and falsification of evidence by the police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Acknowledging the decision of Nicaragua to release from prison 222 political prisoners on 9 February 2023 and 135 political prisoners on 5 September 2024, and expressing deep concern at their forced deportation by Nicaragua, Condemning in the strongest terms the continued pattern of arbitrary deprivation of nationality by Nicaragua which, since February 2023, has stripped at least 546 Nicaraguans of their nationality, in contravention of their human right to a nationality and which, as stateless persons, exposes them to further human rights violations and abuses, including their inability to re-enter the country after departure, obtain legal documentation, access consular protection, exercise their human rights and fulfil their basic needs, Recalling that persons arbitrarily deprived of nationality are protected by international human rights and refugee law, as well as by instruments on statelessness, including, with respect to States Parties, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol thereto, Condemning in the strongest terms the arbitrary seizure by the Government of Nicaragua of assets, birth certificates, academic and professional records, and pensions belonging to, among others, persons who have been arbitrarily stripped of their nationality, Condemning the growing restrictions imposed by Nicaragua on the exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including by the repression, arbitrary arrest and harassment of religious leaders and members of religious groups, including of the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, and the detention and expulsion of at least 31 Catholic priests and seminarians between October 2023 and December 2024, the dissemination through pro-government media of hate speech, incitement to violence and discrimination against the Catholic Church, the de facto ban on Catholic processions and the arbitrary cancellation of the legal personality of at least 392 religious organizations since 2018, Condemning also all acts of intimidation, harassment and reprisals, both online and offline, by State and non-State actors against individuals and groups that seek to cooperate or have cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights, with the Organization of American States or the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Seriously alarmed by the continuing reports of the deteriorating human rights situation of Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendants and other groups in vulnerable situations in Nicaragua, many of whom continue to face increased repression, persecution, discrimination, threats and harassment, including violations and abuses of their rights, the persistent failure of Nicaragua to grant land titles and protect demarcated and titled Indigenous territories from encroachment by settlers and exploitation by mining companies, the stalling of investigations into homicides, and sexual and gender-based violence and attacks related to territorial disputes in the Mayangna Sauni As territory, Expressing deep concern that the Supreme Electoral Council arbitrarily revoked the legal status of the main Indigenous and Afrodescendent political party, Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Aslatakanka (YATAMA) on 3 October 2023, ahead of the regional elections scheduled for 3 March 2024, and condemning the arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance of National Assembly members of this party, which silence political opposition and prevent free participation in public affairs, 4