IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of two individuals who are deprived of liberty in Nicaragua

December 18, 2024

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 100/2024 on December 16, 2024, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Carlos Alberto Vanegas Gómez and Efrén Antonio Vílchez López in Nicaragua, in the belief that they face a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their rights to life and personal integrity.

The party who requested these precautionary measures said that the beneficiaries were deprived of liberty in unsanitary and inhumane conditions at the National Prison Service facility in Granada and at the Jorge Navarro Prison Complex in Tipitapa. The request for these precautionary measures further alleged that the two men were not getting adequate food nor the medical care they required to treat various health problems. The request for these precautionary measures alleged that the beneficiaries had been subjected to torture. The State failed to provide information to the IACHR on this issue.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations, the IACHR considers that the beneficiaries are at risk. Consequently, in keeping with Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR asked the State of Nicaragua to take the following action:

(a) Adopt any measures necessary to protect the beneficiaries' rights to life, personal integrity, and health

(b) Adopt any measures necessary to ensure that the beneficiaries' conditions of detention reflect the applicable international standards and include the following actions: (i) ensuring that they are not subjected to threats, intimidation, or physical violence within penitentiary facilities; (ii) taking all necessary measures to address the allegations of torture made in the request for these precautionary measures; (iii) granting the beneficiaries access to adequate specialized medical care, treatment, and medication and immediately conducting a comprehensive medical examination of their current health condition; (iv) enabling the beneficiaries immediate access to adequate food and water; and (v) considering the option of granting them alternatives to deprivation of liberty, given that it is impossible to protect their rights in their current conditions of detention

(c) Come to an agreement with the beneficiaries and their representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken

(d) Report on any actions adopted to investigate the alleged events that gave rise to the adoption of these precautionary measures, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 322/24

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