IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of Aníbal Martín Rivas Reed in Nicaragua

June 27, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 46/2025 on June 24, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Aníbal Martín Rivas Reed in Nicaragua, in the belief that he faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to his rights to life and personal integrity.

According to the request for these precautionary measures, the beneficiary was arrested by police officers at his home on May 17, 2025. Since then, his family and others close to him have received no information from State authorities about his condition and whereabouts, despite having repeatedly visited various penitentiary facilities in Nicaragua to request that information. The State failed to provide information to the IACHR on this issue.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations put forward by the party who requested these precautionary measures, the IACHR noted that the beneficiary's family and others have no contact with Rivas Reed and have received no information about his whereabouts and legal status (including the case file against him, the procedural state of investigations against him, the reasons for his arrest, whether the case has been subjected to judicial review, his place and conditions of detention, and whether he has access to legal counsel he trusts). Considering that his family and others have failed to restore contact with the beneficiary, the risks faced by Rivas Reed are allegedly being made worse by lack of information about his current condition and whereabouts.

Given these circumstances, the IACHR considers that Rivas Reed faces serious, urgent risks. Consequently, in keeping with Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR asked the State of Nicaragua to take the following action:

1. Adopt any measures necessary to establish the beneficiary's whereabouts and condition, in order to protect his rights to life and personal integrity
2. Say whether the beneficiary is in State custody, and if so disclose any crimes he has been charged with and say whether he has been taken before the judicial authority of competent jurisdiction
3. Provide the details of his arrest and conditions of detention, including his place of detention, and say whether Rivas Reed has been granted access to his lawyers and family and to any healthcare assistance he may require
4. 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 fact that these precautionary measures have been granted and their adoption by the State of Nicaragua 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 applicable instruments.

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. 131/25

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