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

December 15, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 93/2025 on December 12, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of nine individuals who are deprived of liberty in Nicaragua. The IACHR believes that Walter José Balmaceda Ruiz, Jairo Alberto Obando Delgadillo, Eddy Antonio Gutiérrez Delgadillo, Zacarías Cano Angulo, Rosendo Antonio Huerta González, Leonel Antonio Poveda Palacios, José Olivar Meza Raudez, Wilfredo Balmaceda Castrillo, and José Ricardo Cortez Dávila face a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their rights to life, personal integrity, and health.

According to the request for these precautionary measures, the beneficiaries do not have access to adequate medical care to treat their various health issues and their conditions of detention are inadequate, among others because they are being held in unsanitary cells and lack access to drinking water and sufficient food. They are allegedly also being subjected to threats by penitentiary officers. The request for these precautionary measures notes that the beneficiaries have been unable to activate domestic remedies in their favor. The State failed to provide information to the IACHR on this issue.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations made by the party who requested these precautionary measures, the IACHR found that the beneficiaries had various health problems and had not received adequate medical care. The IACHR noted the threats reportedly made by officers of the State, the conditions of detention suffered by the beneficiaries, and allegations that they had not been able to activate domestic protection mechanisms for fear of retaliation. Further, the IACHR did not receive from the State any information about the measures that might have been taken to mitigate or otherwise address the risks that had been identified. 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 protect the beneficiaries’ rights to life, personal integrity, and health
2. Take all measures necessary to ensure that the beneficiaries’ conditions of detention reflect the applicable international standards, including the following:
   1. Ensuring that they are not subjected to threats, intimidation, assault, and other forms of violence inside penitentiary facilities
   2. Ensuring that they have access to adequate, specialized medical care and medication and immediately conducting a comprehensive medical examination of their current health condition
   3. Immediately granting the beneficiaries access to adequate food and water
3. Come to an agreement with the beneficiaries and their representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken
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. 264/25

2:44 PM