IACHR Grants Precautionary Measures in Favor of Rusia Evelyn Pinto Centeno in Nicaragua

August 2, 2022

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 38/2022 on July 31, 2022, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Rusia Evelyn Pinto Centeno in Nicaragua, in the belief that she faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to her rights.

According to the parties who requested these precautionary measures, the proposed beneficiary—a human rights defender who has been identified as a critic of the current Nicaraguan government—is deprived of liberty in inadequate conditions of detention and is not getting the medical care she requires for her health problems, which are therefore getting worse. The proposed beneficiary further alleges that she is being subjected to constant surveillance and to stigmatizing and discriminatory treatment by penitentiary officers, who dispense her differential treatment relative to other inmates. 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 made by the parties, the IACHR considered that Rusia Evelyn Pinto Centeno is at risk. The risks cited in the request for these precautionary measures allegedly persist and are likely to get worse, given the current context in Nicaragua. 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 Rusia Evelyn Pinto Centeno's rights to life, personal integrity, and health
2. Adopt any measures necessary to ensure that conditions of detention for Rusia Evelyn Pinto Centeno reflect the applicable international standards and include the following actions: (i) ensuring she can maintain contact with her lawyers and legal representatives; (ii) ensuring that she is not subjected to discriminatory or stigmatizing treatment within penitentiary facilities; (iii) immediately conducting an impartial specialist medical assessment of her current health condition, including any medical examinations necessary to establish that condition; (iv) ensuring that the proposed beneficiary gets any treatment and medication prescribed to her by the appropriate healthcare experts; and (v) assessing whether the proposed beneficiary's health and current conditions of detention warrant alternatives to deprivation of liberty
3. Come to an agreement with the proposed beneficiary and her 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.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 174/22

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