IACHR

Press Release

IACHR Announces Dates and Scope of Upcoming Visit to Nicaragua

May 17, 2018

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Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is set to conduct a working visit to Nicaragua on May 17-21, 2018. The goal of this preliminary visit is to observe the country’s human rights situation on site, in the context of the events that have taken place there since April 18, 2018.

The delegation for this visit is to be led by Commissioner Antonia Urrejola, the IACHR’s Rapporteur for Nicaragua, with the support of Commissioner Joel Hernández, Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty, and Commissioner Francisco Eguiguren, Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. Commissioner Urrejola will further be assisted by IACHR Executive Secretary Paulo Abrão; by María Claudia Pulido, Assistant Executive Secretary for Monitoring, Promotion and Technical Cooperation on Human Rights; by specialists from the Executive Secretariat; and by the Special Rapporteurs for Freedom of Expression, Edison Lanza, and for Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCER), Soledad García Muñoz.

During the visit, scheduled to start with a media statement from Commissioner Urrejola at 8:30 a.m. on May 18, the IACHR will hold meetings with State authorities, with representatives of the Bishops’ Conference, with civil society organizations and with other relevant actors. The Commission will also take statements from students, persons involved in the situation that led to this visit and relatives of such persons, in order to make a preliminary diagnosis about the human rights situation in the country. The Commission will assess, among others, the situation that stems from the events that have taken place since April 18.

The Commission stresses its appreciation to the State for authorizing the IACHR’s visit, as well as for noting that the Foreign Ministry will facilitate the visit and provide any assistance necessary for it to be conducted successfully. The Commission would further be grateful to civil society for any information it can provide to help attain the goals set for this preliminary visit to the country.

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. 111/18