IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of Douglas Gamaliel Pérez Centeno in Nicaragua

April 9, 2025

Washington, DC – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 33/2025 on April 6, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Douglas Gamaliel Pérez Centeno in Nicaragua, in the belief that he faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to his rights to life and personal integrity.

The party who requested these precautionary measures said that the proposed beneficiary had been extradited to Nicaragua from Costa Rica on February 16, 2025, and that he was being detained by Nicaraguan State authorities since then. Despite various queries raised before State authorities, Pérez Centeno's family has not been informed of his place or conditions of detention, nor of his current health condition. The State failed to provide official information on the proposed beneficiary's current situation.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations, the IACHR found that the proposed beneficiary is at risk and that his situation may even get worse, given the conditions faced by individuals who are deprived of liberty in Nicaragua and given that no official information has been provided concerning his place and conditions of detention, his current health condition, or any measures that may have been adopted to address the risks he faces.

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 Pérez Centeno's rights to life and personal integrity (in particular, by providing information about where he is being detained and about his legal status after being extradited to Nicaragua)
2. State whether, since he was extradited from Costa Rica, he has been taken before the judicial authority of competent jurisdiction (and, if not, explain why he is being detained without judicial review) Provide the details of his conditions of detention, including the current procedural stage in the criminal case against him, and say whether Pérez Centeno has been granted access to his lawyers and family and to any healthcare assistance he may require
3. 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. 071/25

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