IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of Eddie Moisés González Valdivia in Nicaragua

October 7, 2024

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 68/2024 on September 30, 2024, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Eddie Moisés González Valdivia in Nicaragua, in the belief that he faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to his rights to life, personal integrity, and health.

The party who requested these precautionary measures said that Eddie Moisés González Valdivia—a retired military officer, university professor, and business consultant from the city of Estelí who self-identifies as a ruling-party dissident and as a critic of Nicaragua's current government—is currently deprived of liberty at the Jorge Navarro Prison Complex in Tipitapa (known as "La Modelo"), where he is being held incommunicado without any news of his health condition or further conditions of detention. Further, the beneficiary allegedly has no access to his own case file or to an effective defense.

The State failed to provide information to prove that the risk factors that had been identified had been adequately mitigated.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations, the IACHR found that Eddie Moisés González Valdivia is at risk. The IACHR noted that the risks he faces may become increasingly harmful for his rights, given that he is deprived of liberty, has no contact with his family or defense attorneys, and is being held in uncertain conditions of detention, and given that no official information has been provided regarding his detention. Consequently, in keeping with Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR asked the State of Nicaragua to take the following action:

1. Adopt any measures necessary to protect the rights to life, personal integrity, and health of Eddie Moisés González Valdivia
2. Take all measures necessary to ensure that the beneficiary's conditions of detention reflect the applicable international standards, including the following:
   1. Enabling regular access to and contact with his family, lawyers, and other representatives
   2. Officially reporting on the beneficiary's legal status in the context of the criminal law proceedings he is being subjected to
   3. Immediately conducting a comprehensive medical examination of his current health condition and ensuring that he has access to the medical care he needs
   4. Considering the option of granting him alternatives to deprivation of liberty, given that it is impossible to protect his rights in his current conditions of detention
3. Come to an agreement with the beneficiary and his representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken
4. Report on any actions adopted to investigate the alleged events that gave rise to the adoption of these precautionary measures, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future

The fact that these precautionary measures have been granted and their adoption by the State do not entail a prejudgment on a potential petition that may be filed before the inter-American system to allege violations of rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights and other applicable instruments.

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 243/24

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