IACHR Grants Precautionary Measures in Favor of Wilmer Alfredo Mendoza Espinoza and His Family in Nicaragua

August 31, 2021

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 72/21 on August 30, 2021, to grant precautionary protection measures in favor of Wilmer Alfredo Mendoza Espinoza and his family in Nicaragua, in the belief that they face a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their rights.

According to the request for these precautionary measures, the beneficiary is at risk in a deprivation of liberty context, after having been injured while in detention and facing poor conditions and a lack of adequate medical care. The Commission is disappointed that the State has failed to provide its own observations, although they were requested in keeping with Article 25.5 of the IACHR's Rules of Procedure.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations submitted by the party that requested these precautionary measures, the Commission considers that the information it has received shows prima facie that Wilmer Alfredo Mendoza Espinoza is in serious and urgent danger and that his rights to life, personal integrity, and health risk suffering irreparable harm.

The IACHR therefore asks the State of Nicaragua to take the following action:

1. Adopt any measures necessary to protect the rights to life, personal integrity, and health of Wilmer Alfredo Mendoza Espinoza and his family (to that end, the State needs both to ensure that its officers will respect beneficiaries' lives and personal integrity and to protect these persons' rights from dangerous acts that may be perpetrated by third parties, in compliance with the standards of international human rights law)
2. Adopt any measures necessary to protect Wilmer Alfredo Mendoza Espinoza's rights to life, personal integrity, and health (in particular, by taking immediate measures that grant him access to medical treatment, including necessary medication as prescribed by the relevant healthcare professionals, and to diagnoses and examinations that make it possible to regularly assess his condition, in line with the applicable international standards)
3. Ensure that Wilmer Alfredo Mendoza Espinoza's conditions of detention reflect the applicable international standards
4. Considering that Wilmer Alfredo Mendoza Espinoza's life, personal integrity, and health are in danger as a result of the circumstances that surround his current deprivation of liberty, immediately assess the possibility of granting him alternatives to deprivation of liberty, in keeping with domestic regulations and with the applicable inter-American standards
5. Come to an agreement with beneficiaries and their representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken
6. Report on any actions adopted to investigate the alleged events that gave rise to the adoption of this precautionary measure, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future

The fact that this precautionary measure has been granted and its 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 American Convention on Human Rights 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 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. 230/21

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