IACHR Grants Precautionary Measures in Favor of Nine Individuals Who Are Deprived of Liberty in Nicaragua

June 18, 2024

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 39/2024 on June 17, 2024, to grant precautionary measures in favor of nine individuals who are deprived of liberty in Nicaragua, in the belief that they face a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their rights to life and personal integrity.

The party who requested these precautionary measures said that the beneficiaries face violence from penitentiary officers and are being held in inadequate, unsanitary conditions of detention. They are allegedly not being provided adequate medical care, which makes any chronic diseases worse, and they are constantly being subjected to sleep deprivation and psychological torture. These individuals are allegedly also legally vulnerable, since they are being deprived of the chance to communicate with the outside world and lack an effective legal defense. The State failed to respond to the IACHR's request for information.

After assessing the information submitted by the party who requested these precautionary measures, the Commission noted the risk factors. The IACHR acknowledged that unsanitary conditions of detention, sleep deprivation, and a lack of adequate medical care entail a risk of potentially irreparable harm to the beneficiaries' rights, particularly their rights to life, personal integrity, and health. The State of Nicaragua's failure to respond prevented the assessment of any mitigating measures.

Given the current context of systematic repression in Nicaragua, the Commission finds that the data show prima facie that the case meets the seriousness, urgency, and irreparability criteria contemplated in Article 25 of the IACHR's Rules of Procedure. The Commission therefore asks the State of Nicaragua to take the following action:

(a) Adopt any measures necessary to protect the beneficiaries' rights to life, personal integrity, and health (in particular, to officially report on their current condition, considering that they are in State custody)

(b) Adopt any measures necessary to ensure that the beneficiaries' conditions of detention reflect the applicable international standards and include the following actions: (i) ensuring that they are not subjected to threats, intimidation, or physical violence within penitentiary facilities; (ii) taking all necessary measures to address the allegations of torture made in the request for these precautionary measures; (iii) granting the beneficiaries access to adequate specialized medical care, treatment, and medication and immediately conducting a comprehensive medical examination of their current health condition; (iv) enabling the beneficiaries immediate access to adequate food and water; and (v) considering the option of granting them alternatives to deprivation of liberty, given that it is impossible to protect their rights in their current conditions of detention

(c) Come to an agreement with the beneficiaries and their representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken

(d) 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, particularly regarding the allegations of torture made by the party who requested these measures

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 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. 142/24

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