The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issuedor precautionary measures in favor of the bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez Lagoswho has been imprisoned by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo since August 19, 2022.
Bishop Álvarez was taken from the home prison where he was kept for more than six months and taken to the Jorge Navarro penitentiary, known as “La Modelo”, in Tipitapa, on February 9 of this year, when the cardinal resisted being exiled by Ortega together with 222 political prisoners who were put on a plane and expelled to the United States.
Hours later, Daniel Ortega himself unleashed a barrage of insults against the high-ranking Catholic and made public that for not accepting exile, Álvarez had been taken to La Modelo. The following day, a Sandinista magistrate read a condemnatory sentence against the bishop. He was confined to 26 years in prison, perpetual disqualification of his citizen rights and stripped of his status as a Nicaraguan national, according to the regime, for the crimes of conspiracy against national integrity, cybercrimes and contempt of authority.
After listing the facts, the IACHR issued precautionary measures in favor of the prelate. “The Inter-American Commission considers that this matter meets prima facie (Latin expression that means “at first sight”) the requirements of seriousness, urgency and irreparability contained in article 25 of its Regulation ».
Consequently, the body requested the State of Nicaragua to “adopt the necessary measures to protect the rights to life, personal integrity and
health of Rolando José Álvarez Lagos” and that “adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the beneficiary’s detention conditions are compatible with applicable international standards on the matter, among them (that) access to adequate and specialized medical care be guaranteed, and a specialized medical assessment of your health situation is carried out immediately; access to the necessary treatments and medicines to treat their conditions is ensured; and regular contact and access with his relatives, his lawyers and representatives is guaranteed ».
In the same resolution, the IACHR also requests the Ortega government to “arrange the measures to be adopted with the beneficiary and his representatives; and
report on the actions carried out in order to investigate the alleged facts that gave rise to the adoption of this resolution and thus avoid their repetition.
In the same resolution, the IACHR clarifies that they requested information from the Nicaraguan State on the situation of Bishop Álvarez, but received no response.
After notification of these precautionary measures, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has given the State a period of 15 days to report on the adoption of the measures ordered.
Related news: Dictatorship exhibits photographs of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez
On March 25, the Sandinista regime presented photographs of Bishop Álvarez, in a visit that had been authorized to his brothers. In the published photos it is possible to see the prelate smiling next to his relatives, but always watched by guards of the men’s prison.
“Monsignor Rolando Álvarez received a visit from his brothers, Vilma and Manuel Antonio Álvarez Lagos, on the afternoon of this Saturday, March 25, in the Jorge Navarro de Tipitapa National Penitentiary System,” details the brief information published by the websites of the Sandinista dictatorship.
