human rights defender
Organization affiliation
- Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco (UNAB)
- Unión Democrática Renovadora (UNAMOS)
HRD's year of birth
1977
HRD's Gender
Woman
Type of HRD
- Social and community leader
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
- Women's rights
HRD's geographical origin
Urban
HRD's bio and work
(AI Translated) Ana Margarita Vijil Gurdián is a lawyer, political leader, and human‑rights activist from Nicaragua. She began her work as a human‑rights defender at the Central American University (UCA), and later worked in The Hague on the territorial dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia.
She joined Herty Lewites’s 2006 presidential campaign under the banner of the Sandinista Renewal Movement (MRS). From 2008 to 2010, Vijil was a Fulbright scholar and earned a master’s degree in political science in Arizona, United States. From 2012 to 2017, she was president of the Sandinista Renewal Movement party, now known as the Democratic Renewal Union (UNAMOS).
Before the April 2018 protests, Vijil was already actively involved in defending human rights. After the 2018 protests, she actively participated in denouncing serious human‑rights violations, providing support in documentation and monitoring for families of political prisoners and murdered youths.
In October 2018, she was detained during a protest and later released. In June 2021, she was arrested at her home, where she remained in an isolated cell until 9 February 2023, when she was released, expelled, and stripped of her nationality and assets. Since then, she has remained in exile.
Ana Margarita continues her work as a human‑rights defender from exile, working to seek justice for the victims of repression in Nicaragua.
Current Status
Released
Detained since
Jun 13, 2021
Date of release
Feb 9, 2023
Charge(s)
- Subversion
Sentence
(AI Translated) 10 years imprisonment
Latitude: 12.096942985994628
Longitude: -86.2812758311463
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
Location of detention - City/Town
(AI Translated) Managua
Location of detention - Facility
(AI Translated) Judicial Assistance Office “Evaristo Vásquez” known as the New Chipote
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
(AI Translated) Weakened by a severe stomach infection, very pale and has lost weight. She has skin fungus, and none of these problems received adequate treatment from the doctors. She also went a long time without her prescription glasses, as they were broken during her capture and she was not provided a replacement.
Recent case update / evolution
(AI Translated) Exiled and stripped of his nationality and his assets.
On 07/02/23 a judicial notification notice was sent to the defense declaring him a traitor to the Fatherland and disabling his civil rights. On February 9 he was released from prison and exiled to the United States, in addition to being stripped of his nationality and his assets.
Any other relevant documents
(AI Translated) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Precautionary Measures Nos. 593-21, 665-21 and 680-21 https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/mc/2021/res_71-21_mc_593-21, 665-21%20y%20680-21_ni_es.pdf
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Detailed Conclusions of the Working Group on Human Rights on Nicaragua, A/HRC/52/CRP.5 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session52/A-HRC-52-CRP-5-ES.docx
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 10/202, A/HRC/WGAD/2022/10 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/A-HRC-WGAD-2022-10-Nicaragua-AEV.pdf
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