The panel estimated that 27 private universities have had their legal status revoked under President Daniel Ortega.

A United Nations panel warned that the human rights situation in Nicaragua has worsened in the six months since it concluded that crimes against humanity had been committed in the Central American country.

“Today, the overall human rights situation has aggravated,” Jan-Michael Simon, the panel’s chair, wrote in a statement. “We observe an escalation of persecution of dissent by the government.”

The statement, presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, placed particular emphasis on the erosion of academic freedom, predicting dire consequences if the situation was left unchecked.