The IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of José Manuel Urbina Lara and Benjamín Ernesto Gutiérrez Collado in Nicaragua

January 6, 2022

Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 113/2021 on December 31, 2021, by which it granted precautionary measures in favor of José Manuel Urbina Lara and Benjamín Ernesto Gutiérrez Collado, after considering that they are at serious and urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their rights in Nicaragua.

According to the applicants, the proposed beneficiaries, who are identified or perceived as opponents of the current Nicaraguan government, are deprived of liberty under severe conditions of detention, under which they have been subjected to threats and violence. Similarly, the applicants reported that the proposed beneficiaries are in serious health conditions and without receiving timely medical attention. For its part, the information provided by the State is not sufficient to determine that the risk factors identified have been duly mitigated or to disprove the facts alleged by the applicants.

Upon analyzing the submissions of fact and law provided by the parties in the context in which they are framed, the IACHR considered that the proposed beneficiaries are at risk, taking into account the current context in Nicaragua. Consequently, in the terms of Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR requested that the State of Nicaragua:

1. adopt the necessary measures to protect the rights to life, personal integrity, and health of the persons proposed as beneficiaries;
2. ensure that the detention conditions of the persons proposed as beneficiaries are compatible with the applicable international standards and that they receive access to necessary and adequate medical care;
3. consult and agree upon the measures to be adopted with the persons proposed as beneficiaries and their representatives; and
4. report on the actions taken to investigate the alleged facts that gave rise to the adoption of this precautionary measure, so as to prevent such events from reoccurring.

The decision to grant this precautionary measure and its adoption by the State do not constitute a prejudgment of any petition filed with the inter-American system alleging violations of the rights protected in the American Convention 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 the observance and defense of 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. 003/22

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