IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of Julio Antonio Quintana Carvajal in Nicaragua

February 20, 2025

Washington, DC – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 16/2025 on February 18, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Julio Antonio Quintana Carvajal in Nicaragua, in the belief that he faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to his rights to life and personal integrity.

The party who requested these precautionary measures said that the beneficiary had been arrested in a police raid on his home on November 26, 2024, and that his whereabouts had been unknown since then, while he had had no contact with his family and other loved ones. State authorities had allegedly provided no official information about Quintana Carvajal's whereabouts or current condition. The State failed to provide information to the IACHR on this issue.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations, the IACHR considers that the beneficiary is at risk, and that the risks he faces might become increasingly harmful for his rights. This is particularly the case considering that Quintana Carvajal's whereabouts are unknown and that the State has not provided any information about the measures that might have been taken to mitigate the risks he faces or about any measures taken to establish his whereabouts. 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 provide the details of his arrest and conditions of detention, as well as of the judicial authority involved in the case (particularly by reporting on his place of detention and granting his lawyers and family access to him, as well as enabling any healthcare assistance he may require)
3. 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 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.

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. 042/25

11:30 AM