The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court) declared the State of Nicaragua in “contempt” for refusing to comply with the provisional measures of that court in favor of 21 political prisoners and warned that it will submit to the consideration of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) the decision of this country.
In the Court’s opinion, “the position assumed by Nicaragua, according to which there is no will to comply with the Court’s orders, constitutes an act of evident disrespect for the decisions of this Court, contrary to the international principle that imposes to the State the duty to abide by its conventional obligations in good faith, as well as a breach of the duty to inform this court, “says the resolution.
In the decisions of the Court of June 24, September 9 and November 4, 2021, that court granted provisional measures and ordered the release of the political prisoners: Juan Sebastián Chamorro, José Adán Aguerri, Félix Maradiaga, Lesther Alemán, Freddy Navas, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, Walter Gómez, Marcos Fletes, Pedro Vásquez, Arturo Cruz, Luis Rivas, Miguel Mora, Hugo Torres, Víctor Hugo Tinoco, José Pallais, Violeta Granera, Tamara Dávila, Cristiana Chamorro, Dora María Téllez, Ana Margarita Vijil and Suyén Barahona. But the State of Nicaragua has ignored them.
The notion of collective guarantee
In its resolution, the Inter-American Court indicates that in accordance with the provisions of Article 65 of the American Convention, which provides for a collective guarantee system to ensure compliance with the decisions issued by the Inter-American Court, “this Court will submit to the consideration of the General Assembly of the OAS the contempt of Nicaragua to its decisions ”, indicates the resolution.
Similarly, the regional body cites Article 30 of the Statute of the Inter-American Court which prescribes that, in the aforementioned work report, “it shall indicate the cases in which a State has not complied with its rulings.”
According to the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), Nicaragua’s non-compliance is an unprecedented act and “means that in the face of the failure of the State of Nicaragua to comply with the resolution of the Inter-American Court, the General Assembly of the OAS itself will have to intervene and force them to comply ”.
The @CourtIDH issued a DESACATO decision (on the provisional measures granted to @Jschamorrog and 20 people unjustly imprisoned, including @chamorrocris isolated at home) and called on the OAS States to comply with the collective guarantees of the IAHRS with this decision.
– Cenidh (@cenidh) November 23, 2021
“For the Cenidh This resolution evidences the commitment of the organizations of the Inter-American System to protect the human rights of Nicaraguans, victims of the Ortega Murillo regime, ”the organization stressed.
On November 19, Daniel Ortega’s regime denounced the Charter of the OAS, thus initiating his departure from the regional body in a process that can last up to two years.
The beneficiaries of the measures
Among the 21 political prisoners that the Ortega regime refuses to release are candidates for the presidency, union leaders, journalists and businessmen, who were captured in a repressive wave that began at the end of May in the context of voting in the country.
The Court was informed that the beneficiaries of the provisional measures remain in detention and they have been formally charged. The accusation against all of them is based on the alleged commission of the crime of “conspiracy to undermine the national integrity”, enshrined in articles 410 and 412 of the
Penal Code, to the detriment of Nicaraguan society and the State of Nicaragua.
The conditions of detention of the beneficiaries would be extreme and violate their rights. “All of them have suffered a serious physical deterioration, marked by a notable loss of weight and by the manifestation of other health problems,” the report details.
