Within the framework of its 184th session, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a hearing to monitor 10 precautionary measures for persons deprived of liberty in Nicaragua.
The session was chaired by Commissioner Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana, Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty and
for the Prevention and Combat of Torture. Representatives of the IACHR and people from civil society were present.
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The 10 opponents with precautionary measures and that are supervised by the Commission are the former political Ruth Matute, the political prisoner Manuel Eduardo Tijerino and his family unit, Denis Garcia Jiron Y Carmen Jiron, Maycol Arce, Gustavo A. Mendoza and family, the prisoner of conscience Kevin Solis.
Also on the list is the lawyer and political prisoner Jose Manuel Urbina Lara Wilber Alfredo Espinoza and family, Lazaro Ernesto Rivas Perez Y Benjamin Ernesto Gutierrez.
According to Carmen Herrera, from the organization Raza e Igualdad, the beneficiaries of the precautionary measures who are in Nicaraguan prisons are at serious risk of suffering irreparable and irreversible damage to their rights, which are the beneficiaries.
“These precautionary measures cover 60 beneficiaries, of whom 44 continue to be deprived of liberty for political reasons and only seven have been released. The remaining nine people are relatives, including five children and adolescents.
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“Those of us who are here represent 56 of the beneficiaries, these people were arrested between 2018 and 2021 for exercising their rights to civic protest, freedom of expression and right of assembly,” he stressed.
Regarding the violation of human rights, the expert emphasized that the criminalization processes that political prisoners have faced have not been respectful of the guarantees of due process.
“None of the people who have benefited from these precautionary measures should be deprived of their liberty, which is why we consider that, as the Inter-American Court has already ordered in the cases of other people deprived of their liberty for political reasons, we ask this illustrious commission to demand his release,” he demanded.
State of Nicaragua fails to comply
The IACHR pointed out that to date the State of Nicaragua is in absolute noncompliance with the Commission’s requests. In addition, it has not adopted any measure to guarantee the life and health for the protection of the beneficiaries; has not ensured access to specialized, adequate and quality medical care according to their needs.
For her part, Georgina Ruiz of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), indicated that 42 of the beneficiaries who are being held in the Jorge Navarro Penitentiary System in Tipitapa, known as “La Modelo” are in inhuman and degrading situations.
He stressed that in gallery 300 or maximum security, the regime has held political prisoners Jaime Navarrete, Edward Lacayo, Víctor Soza, John Cerna, Víctor Díaz, Kevin Solís, Gustavo Mendoza, Ernesto Ramírez, Uriel Pérez and Néstor Montealvo.
“These cells are maximum security and punishment cells to which prisoners are transferred arbitrarily (…) Some beneficiaries remained at some point with shackles on their hands and feet,” Ruiz denounced.
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In response to the complaint from Cenidh and other members of civil society, Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, commissioner of the IACHR, made a call to guarantee that the people who participated in the hearing are not subjected to any type of retaliation by the government of Daniel Ortega.
Ralón Orellana said that the Nicaraguan government must guarantee that human rights and precautionary measures are respected for the beneficiaries. “We remind you that no retaliation should be taken against participants because of their statements before the Commission,” he concluded.
