human rights defender
Irving Isidro Larios Sánchez
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
Urgent support needed
(AI translated) Access to justice
Organization affiliation
- Articulación de Movimientos Sociales (AMS)
- Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco (UNAB)
HRD's year of birth
1958
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- NGO member
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
- Economic, social and cultural rights
HRD's geographical origin
Urban
Current Status
Released
HRD's bio and work
(AI translated) Irving Larios, born in Corinto, Nicaragua, is a 63-year-old sociologist and economist who advocates for human rights. He has been involved in the struggle for democracy in Nicaragua since his youth and is a member of the Articulación de Movimientos Sociales (AMS) and the president of the Instituto de Investigaciones y Gestión Social (INGES), an organization dedicated to executing social projects on sustainable development. In August 2021, INGEST had its legal personality canceled, and its assets were confiscated. Larios is also the president of the Federación de Organismos No Gubernamentales de Nicaragua (FONG) and a former member of the Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco (UNAB). For his human rights work, he has been deprived of his freedom three times: first under the Somoza dictatorship, then in the 1980s for criticizing the revolutionary leadership at that time, and in 2021 for defending and promoting human rights. In the course of his work, he made strong statements about the illegitimacy of the November 2021 electoral process. This led to increased state repression against him, including threats on social media, as well as discrimination and stigmatization. He is part of the group of 222 political prisoners who were deported to the United States and stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship by the Ortega and Murillo regime, which declared him a traitor to the motherland and stripped him of his civil rights.
Detained since
Sep 20, 2021
Date of release
Sep 2, 2023
Charge(s)
- Spreading fake news
- Subversion
Sentence
(AI translated) 13 years of prison
Latitude: 12.121481296790877
Longitude: -86.28670791441766
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
Location of detention - City/Town
Managua
Location of detention - Facility
Managua, en casa de habitación en resid. Altos de Nejapa
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
(AI translated) On September 20, 2021, Larios Sánchez was arrested by eight police officers who violently entered his home from different sides and raided the property without a warrant. He was taken to the cells of the Judicial Assistance Directorate, known as "El Nuevo Chipote." However, his whereabouts were unknown to his family until October 13, 2021. On September 24, 2021, Raity Larios' home, the daughter of Larios, was also raided as part of the investigative process against her father. The house remained besieged by police officers in plain clothes. It wasn't until January 22, 2022, that preventive detention for a period of 90 days was imposed, without access to proper legal representation. On February 28, 2022, he was found guilty of the crimes of "conspiring to commit an act against national integrity" and "spreading false news," resulting in a sentence of 13 years in prison.
In March 2022, he fell ill with COVID-19 and did not receive proper or specialized medical attention. During his time in jail, he received scarce rations of poor-quality food. He was not allowed access to outdoor exercise yards and was held in disciplinary cells for more than five months. These cells were completely airtight and sealed, measuring 2 x 2 meters with a small window for food delivery and ventilation. The electric light remained on for 24 hours, and he slept on a thin, worn-out mattress on a concrete floor, without blankets or sheets to protect him from the cold at night, which further aggravated his health condition.
In the first months leading up to his conviction, he was taken daily for interrogations by police officers.
Recent case update / evolution
(AI translated) Sentence details: 13 years in prison and a fine of 800 days (C$52,720).
On February 9, 2023, he was released from prison and deported to the United States. On February 10, 2023, he was declared a traitor to the fatherland, his civic rights were revoked, his nationality was stripped, and his assets were ordered to be confiscated. He currently lives in exile in the United States, has acquired Spanish citizenship, and continues to promote justice for the victims of repression and seek justice for the victims of repression in Nicaragua.
Any other relevant documents
(AI translated) Cautionary Measures No. 66-22 and No. 135-22, Resolution 26/2022, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights https://www.oas.org/en/iadh/decisions/mc/2022/res_26-22%C2%A0_mc_66-22%20and%20no.%20135-22%C2%A0_ni_en.pdf
Inter-American Court of Human Rights Resolution of October 4, 2022, Provisional Measures, In Relation to Nicaragua, Case 45 Persons Deprived of Their Liberty in 8 Detention Centers In Relation to Nicaragua https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/medidas/45personas_en_se_01.pdf
Police statement announcing the arrest https://www.instagram.com/el19digital/p/CUEJiNXr8W3/?img_index=1
Attachments
Documented by
- Country(ies) of nationality
- HRD's year of birth
- 1958
- HRD's Gender
- Man
- Type of HRD
- NGO member
- HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
- Economic, social and cultural rights
- Organization affiliation
- Articulación de Movimientos Sociales (AMS)
- Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco (UNAB)
- HRD's Picture
- HRD's bio and work
(AI translated) Irving Larios, born in Corinto, Nicaragua, is a 63-year-old sociologist and economist who advocates for human rights. He has been involved in the struggle for democracy in Nicaragua since his youth and is a member of the Articulación de Movimientos Sociales (AMS) and the president of the Instituto de Investigaciones y Gestión Social (INGES), an organization dedicated to executing social projects on sustainable development. In August 2021, INGEST had its legal personality canceled, and its assets were confiscated. Larios is also the president of the Federación de Organismos No Gubernamentales de Nicaragua (FONG) and a former member of the Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco (UNAB). For his human rights work, he has been deprived of his freedom three times: first under the Somoza dictatorship, then in the 1980s for criticizing the revolutionary leadership at that time, and in 2021 for defending and promoting human rights. In the course of his work, he made strong statements about the illegitimacy of the November 2021 electoral process. This led to increased state repression against him, including threats on social media, as well as discrimination and stigmatization. He is part of the group of 222 political prisoners who were deported to the United States and stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship by the Ortega and Murillo regime, which declared him a traitor to the motherland and stripped him of his civil rights.
- HRD's geographical origin
- Urban
- Country or area of detention
- Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
- Location of detention - City/Town
- Managua
- Location of detention - Facility
- Managua, en casa de habitación en resid. Altos de Nejapa
- Geolocation of detention
Latitude: 12.121481296790877
Longitude: -86.28670791441766
- Geolocation of detention
- Detained since
- Sep 20, 2021
- Current Status
- Released
- Date of release
- Sep 2, 2023
- Charge(s)
- Spreading fake news
- Subversion
- Sentence
(AI translated) 13 years of prison
- Recent case update / evolution
(AI translated) Sentence details: 13 years in prison and a fine of 800 days (C$52,720).
On February 9, 2023, he was released from prison and deported to the United States. On February 10, 2023, he was declared a traitor to the fatherland, his civic rights were revoked, his nationality was stripped, and his assets were ordered to be confiscated. He currently lives in exile in the United States, has acquired Spanish citizenship, and continues to promote justice for the victims of repression and seek justice for the victims of repression in Nicaragua.
- Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
(AI translated) On September 20, 2021, Larios Sánchez was arrested by eight police officers who violently entered his home from different sides and raided the property without a warrant. He was taken to the cells of the Judicial Assistance Directorate, known as "El Nuevo Chipote." However, his whereabouts were unknown to his family until October 13, 2021. On September 24, 2021, Raity Larios' home, the daughter of Larios, was also raided as part of the investigative process against her father. The house remained besieged by police officers in plain clothes. It wasn't until January 22, 2022, that preventive detention for a period of 90 days was imposed, without access to proper legal representation. On February 28, 2022, he was found guilty of the crimes of "conspiring to commit an act against national integrity" and "spreading false news," resulting in a sentence of 13 years in prison.
In March 2022, he fell ill with COVID-19 and did not receive proper or specialized medical attention. During his time in jail, he received scarce rations of poor-quality food. He was not allowed access to outdoor exercise yards and was held in disciplinary cells for more than five months. These cells were completely airtight and sealed, measuring 2 x 2 meters with a small window for food delivery and ventilation. The electric light remained on for 24 hours, and he slept on a thin, worn-out mattress on a concrete floor, without blankets or sheets to protect him from the cold at night, which further aggravated his health condition.
In the first months leading up to his conviction, he was taken daily for interrogations by police officers.
- Urgent support needed
(AI translated) Access to justice
- Any other relevant documents
(AI translated) Cautionary Measures No. 66-22 and No. 135-22, Resolution 26/2022, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights https://www.oas.org/en/iadh/decisions/mc/2022/res_26-22%C2%A0_mc_66-22%20and%20no.%20135-22%C2%A0_ni_en.pdf
Inter-American Court of Human Rights Resolution of October 4, 2022, Provisional Measures, In Relation to Nicaragua, Case 45 Persons Deprived of Their Liberty in 8 Detention Centers In Relation to Nicaragua https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/medidas/45personas_en_se_01.pdf
Police statement announcing the arrest https://www.instagram.com/el19digital/p/CUEJiNXr8W3/?img_index=1
- Documented by
- Consent status
- Consent to register, store and publish the information
sorted by
Date added
3 relationships, 2 entities