NICARAGUA announced yesterday that it was withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC).

The central American country accused the UN body of slandering it and becoming a sounding board for those who have threatened peace and tranquillity and are the perpetrators of the many murders, kidnappings and rapes of the Nicaraguan people.

The UN report, released on Wednesday, accuses Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, who serve as co-presidents, of having “transformed the country into an authoritarian state where no independent institutions remain.”