The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Republic of Nicaragua to take all necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 69/2023 concerning Adrián Alexander Arana, Ángel Sebastián Martínez Arana, Richard de Jesús Martínez Arana, Bryan Kessler Alemán, Carlos Antonio López Cano, Denis Antonio García Jirón, Fanor Alejandro Ramos, Francisco Xavier Pineda Guatemala, Gustavo Adolfo Mendoza Beteta, Jairo Lenin Centeno Ríos, Kaled Antonio Toruño Maradiaga, Luis Carlos Valle Tinoco, Manuel de Jesús Sobalvarro Bravo, Mauricio Javier Valencia Mendoza, Jhon Christopher Cerna Zúñiga, Nilson José Membreño, Osmar Ramón Vindell López, Richard Alexander Saavedra Cedeño, Víctor Manuel Díaz Pérez, Yader Antonio Polanco Cisneros, Michael David Caballero Ayala, Edgard Antonio Ayala Valle, and Michael Rodrigo Samorio Anderson. Nicaragua is asked to immediately release them and accord them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning this case: Opinion No. 69/2023.
23 INDIVIDUALS ARRESTED UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES
The 23 individuals of this opinion are all Nicaraguan nationals born between 1962 and 2002 - meaning that the younger individual was 17 years old at the time of his arrest. All had different professional (or other) activities at the time of their respective arrest.
Messrs. Mendoza Beteta, García Jirón, Ramos and Toruño Maradiaga had participated in the 2018 anti-government protests in Nicaragua, some also showing their disagreement with the Government in other ways (e.g., Mr. Ramos had also refused to cooperate with the police when they tried to recruit him). While Messrs. Toruño Maradiaga and Mendoza Beteta were prosecuted under different charges following their participation in these protests - both being released later -, Mr. Ramos ended up being monitored by the police and Mr. García Jirón was persecuted to the point he fled to Costa Rica for a while. All were arrested from October 2019 to October 2020, at different locations (e.g., at a shopping centre; on the road...) by different police officers (i.e., from simple agents to members of the Directorate of Special Police Operation). It seems all were convicted between May and October 2020, to prison sentences going from 5 to 20 years in prison and to fines. While Messrs. Mendoza Beteta and Ramos were convicted for trafficking or storage of narcotics, psychotropic drugs and other controlled substances, Mr. García Jirón was convicted for manufacturing, trafficking, possession and use of restricted weapons or explosive devices, and Mr. Toruño Maradiaga was convicted for drug trafficking, illegal possession of restricted weapons and manufacturing or possession of explosives.
Messrs. Adrián, Ángel and Richard Arana are brothers. On 19 March 2019, they were arrested at their house by police officers of Managua, and on 11 January 2021, they were convicted for having committed the offense of aggravated robbery with violence, and sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison.
The rest of these individuals - that is to say: Messrs. Centeno Ríos, Membreño, Pineda Guatemala, Valle Tinoco, Sobalvarro Bravo, Valencia Mendoza, Polanco Cisneros, Samorio Anderson, López Cano, Vindell López, Saavedra Cedeño, Díaz Pérez, Caballero Ayala, Ayala Valle, Kessler Alemán and Cerna Zúñiga - were arrested between July 2018 and March 2021, under different circumstances (e.g., at their house; at the gym; at the police station; in a bus...) and by different police or armed-forces (e.g., police officers of different Districts of Managua, or León; agents of the Directorate of Special Police Operations; paramilitaries). Except for Mr. Vindell López, for which the source did not provide details concerning a possible conviction / possible charges, and based on the information available in the opinion, it appears all the other individuals were charged or convicted between December 2018 and January 2021.
These 15 individuals were respectively charged or convicted for the following crimes and attributed the following sentences (when known) : Mr. Centeno Ríos was convicted for possession of narcotics, psychotropic drugs and other controlled substances, and sentenced to 5 years and 6 months of prison and a fine; Mr. Membreño was convicted for conspiracy to traffic drugs, manufacture, possession and use of weapons, and improper use of emblems and uniforms of the army and the police, and sentenced to 10 years and 9 months in prison; Mr. Pineda Guatemala was charged with possession of a prohibited firearm; Mr. Valle Tinoco was convicted for aggravated robbery and illegal possession of weapons, and sentenced for a total of 8 years in prison; Mr. Sobalvarro Bravo was convicted for traffic and possession of weapons, and originally sentenced for a total of 6 years and 6 months in prison; Mr. Valencia Mendoza was convicted for carrying restricted firearms, and sentenced to 7 years in prison and a fine; Mr. Polanco Cisneros was charged with murder and eventually sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in prison; Mr. Samorio Anderson was convicted of unknown crimes and sentenced to 6 years in prison; Mr. Kessler Alemán was convicted for unknown crimes and sentenced to 6 years in prison and a fine; Mr. Cerna Zúñiga was convicted for unknown crimes and sentenced to 12 years in prison and a fine; and eventually, Messrs. Mr. López Cano, Mr. Saavedra Cedeño, Mr. Díaz Pérez, Caballero Ayala and Ayala Valle were all convicted for unknown crimes.
Though having the opportunity to do so, the Nicaraguan Government did not respond to these allegations of the source.
LACK OF ARREST WARRANT, EXPLANATION OF THE CHARGES AGAINS THEM AND DELAYS TO BE PRESENTED BEFORE A JUDGE
All 23 individuals were automatically put in preventive detention, as allowed by national law for certain crimes. The Working Group recalled its own jurisprudence, notably concerning Nicaragua, in which it found that the automatic application of such detention without any judicial oversight was contrary to international norms, as it was not justified by an individualised evaluation of each case. As these automatic applications were found for the 23 individuals, the Working Group thus found a violation of articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of article 9 (3) of the Covenant.
Moreover, except Messrs. Membreño, Polanco Cisneros and Díaz Pérez, the rest of the detainees were not presented with an arrest warrant, nor informed of the reasons of their arrest, nor informed of the charges existing against them in a timely manner. As such, the Working Group found that as the Nicaraguan Government failed to provide such explanations to these 20 detainees, their right under articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of article 9 (1) and (2) of the Covenant were violated.
Further, article 9 (3) of the Covenant mandates that anyone arrested on a criminal charge must be brought promptly before a judge. The Working Group noted that eight of the 23 individuals - namely: Messrs. Valle Tinoco, Sobalvarro Bravo, López Cano, Membreño, García Jirón, Caballero Ayala, Ayala Valle and Ramos - were only brought before a judicial authority three to five days after their arrest. According to the Working Group, these delays clearly violated article 9 (3) of the Covenant, which generally considers 48 hours to be the maximum permissible time before an arrestee must be presented to a judge.
Therefore, the Working Group found the arrests and detentions of these 23 individuals lacked a legal basis, thus being arbitrary under category I.
VIOLATION OF THEIR RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF OPINION, EXPRESSION AND PARTICIPATION
According to the source, the detentions of Messrs. García Jirón, Ramos, and Mendoza Beteta resulted directly from their opposition to the Government and their active participation in anti-Government protests in 2018. Considering the elements presented by the source and the lack of response from the Government, the Working Group found that these three individuals were indeed targeted because of their political views and their efforts to advocate for democratic change. Henceforth, the Working Group concluded that their detention was a result of the legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as their critical attitude and stance towards the Government, in violation of articles 19, 20, and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as articles 19, 21, and 25 of the Covenant.
Therefore, the Working Group found the detentions of Messrs. García Jirón, Ramos, and Mendoza Beteta arbitrary under category II.
MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL
According to the source, Messrs. López Cano, Ramos, Pineda Guatemala, Mendoza Beteta, Centeno Ríos, Toruño Maradiaga, Vindell López, and Díaz Pérez were denied private meetings with their respective legal counsel. Since this allegation was not refuted by the Government, the Working Group found that the failure to provide sufficient and private access to their respective legal counsel violated these eight detainees' right to effective legal representation and their right to have adequate time and facilities to prepare their defence, prescribed in article 14 (3) (b) of the Covenant.
The source also argued that Messrs. García Jirón, Membreño, Caballero Ayala, and Ayala Valle were presented to the media as guilty before their trial, which influenced the public opinion and fostered bias against them. As such, the Working Group found a violation of the right of these four individuals to be presumed innocent, and so to a fair trial, guaranteed under article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 14 of the Covenant.
Moreover, the Working Group expressed deep concern regarding the allegations of torture against Mr. Sobalvarro Bravo, which were not refuted by the Government. These allegations, if true, would constitute violations of articles 5 and 25 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 7 and 10 (1) of the Covenant. The Working Group noted that torture not only represents a severe violation of human rights in itself but also undermines the ability of individuals to defend themselves, thereby obstructing the exercise of their right to a fair trial, particularly the right to be presumed innocent under article 14 (2) of the Covenant and the right not to be compelled to testify against oneself under article 14 (3) (g) of the Covenant.
Consequently, the Working Group found the violations of the right to a fair trial of Messrs. López Cano, García Jirón, Ramos, Pineda Guatemala, Mendoza Beteta, Centeno Ríos, Toruño Maradiaga, Sobalvarro Bravo, Membreño, Vindell López, Díaz Pérez, Caballero Ayala and Ayala Valle to be serious enough as to render their detention arbitrary under category III.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION
In light of the foregoing, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that the detentions of the 23 above-mentioned individuals are arbitrary, falling under categories I, II, and III, as their deprivations of liberty contravened articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Working Group urged the Nicaraguan Government to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of these violations and to take appropriate measures against those responsible. The Working Group considered that, taking into account all circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would the immediate release of these individuals and the provision of an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
Additionally, the Working Group expressed concern about the broader context of arbitrary detentions in Nicaragua and urged the government to implement necessary reforms to prevent such violations in the future.
Commenti