IACHR requests from Inter-American Court an extension of provisional measures in favor of four individuals who are deprived of liberty in Nicaragua

October 4, 2024

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on October 3, 2024, to extend provisional measures in the case Juan Sebastián Chamorro et al., to include four individuals who are being deprived of liberty in Nicaragua and face an extremely serious and urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their rights. These individuals remain deprived of liberty, even after 135 others were released from prison on September 5, 2024.

The IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of these four individuals after noting that they met the relevant seriousness, urgency, and irreparability criteria. The IACHR has repeatedly tried to obtain information from the State of Nicaragua, but it has received no response that might indicate that adequate, effective measures had been implemented to mitigate the risks, and it has also received no information about any action taken to come to an agreement with the beneficiaries or to investigate the allegations.

The proposed beneficiaries were arrested over the period 2021–2023, amid the criminalization of individuals who are considered critics of the current Nicaraguan government and of all civil society actors who seek to get involved in public life in Nicaragua, whether through social, political, or religious platforms. These four individuals are currently being deprived of liberty at the Jorge Navarro Prison Complex in Tipitapa (known as "La Modelo") and the Comprehensive Women's Penitentiary Facility in Tipitapa (known as "La Esperanza").

The IACHR found the situation particularly worrying since the proposed beneficiaries are being deprived of liberty in conditions of detention that put them at risk, including a lack of medical care, allegations of abuse, intimidation, and harassment by officers of the State, and restrictions of contact with their families and lawyers. The four proposed beneficiaries have also been prevented from enjoying the minimum safeguards of due process.

The IACHR notes that this request for an extension reflects an exceptional situation with an extreme, urgent risk that the proposed beneficiaries suffer irreparable harm to their rights. The request should be assessed in the current context in the State of Nicaragua, which has been constantly evaluated by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the IACHR, as well as by other human rights institutions.

Consequently, in keeping with Article 63.2 of the American Convention and Article 27 of the Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the IACHR asked the Court to demand that the State of Nicaragua take the following action:

1. Immediately adopt all necessary measures to effectively protect the lives, integrity, health, access to adequate food and drinking water, and personal liberty of (1) Walner Antonio Ruiz Rivera, (2) Edgardo Antonio Cárcamo Díaz, (3) Evelyn Susana Guillén Zepeda, and (4) Geovanny Jaret Guido Morales
2. Immediately release these individuals who are deprived of liberty in Nicaragua, given the serious, inhumane conditions of detention they are being subjected to, the cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment they are getting, the lack of medical care, and the serious deterioration of their health, which make it clear that it is impossible for the State to provide the minimum conditions of detention required to ensure compliance with the applicable international standards and to protect human dignity
3. Take protection measures in favor of members of the families of these four beneficiaries, amid acts of retaliation for their complaints about the situation of their detained relatives and for their attempts to obtain official information about their loved ones

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights grants provisional measures in extremely serious and urgent cases, to prevent irreparable harm to individuals. Provisional measures are compulsory for States, and the decisions they hold demand that States adopt specific actions to protect the rights and/or lives of the individuals who are at risk.

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the 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. 241/24

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