State of Nicaragua to be heard by IACHR Court on protection measures for members of opposition, political organizations and presidential pre-candidates

This Friday, August 27, at 8:00 am (Nicaraguan time), a public hearing will be held to monitor the urgent measures granted by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR Court) for the benefit of presidential pre-candidates Juan Sebastián Chamorro and Félix Maradiaga Blandón, opposition leader and businessman José Adán Aguerri Chamorro and opposition activists and human rights defenders Violeta Granera and Tamara Dávila. The hearing will be held virtually and can be followed live, in Spanish. through the IACHR Court’s social networks.

The purpose of the hearing is for the IACHR Court to verify the State’s compliance with provisional measures ordered on June 24 and extended on July 19, 2021, for the benefit of these five people, who have been missing for more than 70 days after their detention at the hands of police officers. These five people are added to 29 others who have been criminalized since May of this year, bringing to 150 the number of political prisoners in the country, for whom the hearing also has important effects.

In both resolutions, the Court ordered the State to “proceed to the immediate release” of the beneficiaries and required Nicaragua to adopt the necessary measures to effectively protect their life, integrity, and personal liberty, as well as that of their families.

The hearing will be attended by members of the beneficiary families and their legal representatives, as well as a delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). It is expected that the State of Nicaragua will be present, as it has done in the hearings held before the Court in 2021.

We invite you to follow the hearing live and to be aware of the coverage on the accounts of @cejil and @cenidh