human rights defender
human rights defender
(AI translated) Demand guarantees and respect for his personal integrity, immediate medical attention, ask the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to request provisional measures from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and demand his prompt release.
1962
Man
Urban
In prison (sentenced)
(AI translated) Manuel Urbina Lara is a criminal lawyer. Since the 1980s he has been a strong critic of the current Nicaraguan government, being imprisoned on two occasions due to his opposition to the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FLSN) government. From a very young age, lawyer José Manuel Urbina Lara considered himself anti-Sandinista and led youth groups protesting against compulsory military service in the 1980s. After being arrested several times for opposing military service, he moved to Costa Rica, where he completed his law degree, became a Costa Rican citizen and joined the Nicaraguan Resistance. He actively participated in the April 2018 protests in Nicaragua and took on the defence of several people identified as ‘political prisoners’. For these reasons, since then he has been the victim of multiple threats and harassment by police officers and third parties, and in the prisons where he has been held he has been the victim of torture, cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment.
Jan 24, 2021
(AI translated) 4 years of prison
Latitude: 12.183752347983708
Longitude: -86.08590737952117
Tipitapa
Sistema Penitenciario Jorge Navarro, conocido como Carcel La Modelo
(AI translated) On 20 March 2019, a patrol of riot police illegally raided his property in Estelí, which he publicly denounced, publicising other incidents that he and his family had suffered, such as the looting of his daughter's business; imprisonment and unjust prosecution of a member of his family; theft of the weapons he was legally carrying; and alteration of the invoices of the few businesses he owned to force their closure. Subsequently, in October 2019, the National Council of Administration and Judicial Career of the Supreme Court of Justice suspended him for five years from practising as a lawyer and notary public as a result of statements Urbina Lara had made publicly about corruption cases in which the Supreme Court of Justice would be implicated. At the end of 2019, due to the intensification of death threats and police harassment against him, he was forced to move to the municipality of Estelí, where he was also the victim of siege and surveillance by the Estelí Police, who repeatedly invaded his property, entering by force at any time of the day or night, without presenting any legal supporting documents, and handcuffed him, violently threw him to the ground and proceeded to search the entire place. In addition, on numerous occasions he was detained on the road, when it was possible for him to leave the house. On 24 January 2021, while on his way to the department of Jinotega, Mr. Jorge Rizo asked him to drive, and Urbina Lara allowed him to get into the tub of his van, as the cabs were occupied. A few kilometres later, an unknown vehicle invaded the lane where he was driving and, while trying to avoid it, the van swerved and plunged into an abyss on the road. Mr. Jorge Rizzo died instantly from the impact suffered at the time of the accident, so Mr. Urbina Lara called the corresponding traffic authorities and was immediately taken to the police station of the sector where he was detained, denied the possibility of mediation, although the victims - the relatives of the deceased - publicly expressed their free consent to reach a mediation. It should be noted that when Urbina was detained he was in a delicate condition, he had fractures in his legs, in his rib, a bruise on his head, and Nicaraguan law allows those responsible for this type of act to recover their freedom by reaching an agreement with the victim's relatives; however, the Prosecutor's Office did not allow this. On 26 January 2021, the accusation against Urbina Lara was presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office before the Jinotega Court for the crime of reckless homicide. On 27 January, he participated in the initial hearing and the judge ordered his release on the grounds that the preventive measure would be periodic presentation. However, on 28 January, despite the release order, the police station had not granted her release, so her lawyer requested a meeting with the judge, who informed her that she had modified her order and ordered her remand in custody to be maintained, when, when questioned about the reasons for the change, she replied that they were ‘orders from above and she was only obeying’. Likewise, in February 2021, the local criminal judge in Jinotega, Diana Isabel Jarquín, ordered her release in a preliminary hearing, but hours later revoked the order. On 8 March 2021, he was sentenced to 4 years in prison for the crime of reckless homicide and transferred to the Waswalí Penitentiary System, in the department of Matagalpa, on 12 March 2021, where he remained in a punishment cell, completely isolated and not allowed visits from his family or his lawyer. During this period in Waswali prison, he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment, without any medical attention to control his high blood pressure and the hypoglycaemia he suffers from. His son managed to see him until 14 September 2021, noting the serious deterioration of Urbina Lara's health.
UDJ has submitted a report to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Urbina Lara's health and prison conditions and has denounced the torture he has been subjected to. In April of the same year, Urbina Lara started a hunger strike as an act of protest against the cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions inside the prisons, for which he was subjected to cruel treatment, was beaten and transferred to a dungeon, and was taken out of the cell to an unknown location. It was later learned that he had been transferred to La Modelo prison in Tipitapa. On 31 December 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a resolution in which it granted precautionary measures in favour of Urbina Lara, after considering that he is in a serious and urgent situation of risk of harm.
(AI translated) He is currently in the La Modelo Penitentiary Centre of the National Penitentiary System awaiting release in January 2025, when he will serve his sentence.
(AI translated) Precautionary Measures No. 610-21 and No. 949-21, Resolution 113/2021, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/mc/2021/res_113-21_mc_610-21_mc_949-21_ni_es.pdf
Supreme Court of Justice sanctions JOSÉ MANUEL URBINA LARA https://www.poderjudicial.gob.ni/pjupload/sgc/pdf/circular_230523.pdf
GREX denounces ‘savage’ beating of political and common prisoners in Nicaraguan jail https://100noticias.com.ni/politica/133686-denuncian-golpiza-presos-politicos-carcel/
Lawyer and political prisoner Manuel Urbina Lara confirms that he is on hunger strike with other prisoners https://radio-corporacion.com/blog/archivos/148030/abogado-y-preso-politico-manuel-urbina-lara-confirma-que-mantiene-huelga-de-hambre-junto-a-otros-reos/
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(AI translated) Manuel Urbina Lara is a criminal lawyer. Since the 1980s he has been a strong critic of the current Nicaraguan government, being imprisoned on two occasions due to his opposition to the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FLSN) government. From a very young age, lawyer José Manuel Urbina Lara considered himself anti-Sandinista and led youth groups protesting against compulsory military service in the 1980s. After being arrested several times for opposing military service, he moved to Costa Rica, where he completed his law degree, became a Costa Rican citizen and joined the Nicaraguan Resistance. He actively participated in the April 2018 protests in Nicaragua and took on the defence of several people identified as ‘political prisoners’. For these reasons, since then he has been the victim of multiple threats and harassment by police officers and third parties, and in the prisons where he has been held he has been the victim of torture, cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment.
Latitude: 12.183752347983708
Longitude: -86.08590737952117
(AI translated) 4 years of prison
(AI translated) He is currently in the La Modelo Penitentiary Centre of the National Penitentiary System awaiting release in January 2025, when he will serve his sentence.
(AI translated) On 20 March 2019, a patrol of riot police illegally raided his property in Estelí, which he publicly denounced, publicising other incidents that he and his family had suffered, such as the looting of his daughter's business; imprisonment and unjust prosecution of a member of his family; theft of the weapons he was legally carrying; and alteration of the invoices of the few businesses he owned to force their closure. Subsequently, in October 2019, the National Council of Administration and Judicial Career of the Supreme Court of Justice suspended him for five years from practising as a lawyer and notary public as a result of statements Urbina Lara had made publicly about corruption cases in which the Supreme Court of Justice would be implicated. At the end of 2019, due to the intensification of death threats and police harassment against him, he was forced to move to the municipality of Estelí, where he was also the victim of siege and surveillance by the Estelí Police, who repeatedly invaded his property, entering by force at any time of the day or night, without presenting any legal supporting documents, and handcuffed him, violently threw him to the ground and proceeded to search the entire place. In addition, on numerous occasions he was detained on the road, when it was possible for him to leave the house. On 24 January 2021, while on his way to the department of Jinotega, Mr. Jorge Rizo asked him to drive, and Urbina Lara allowed him to get into the tub of his van, as the cabs were occupied. A few kilometres later, an unknown vehicle invaded the lane where he was driving and, while trying to avoid it, the van swerved and plunged into an abyss on the road. Mr. Jorge Rizzo died instantly from the impact suffered at the time of the accident, so Mr. Urbina Lara called the corresponding traffic authorities and was immediately taken to the police station of the sector where he was detained, denied the possibility of mediation, although the victims - the relatives of the deceased - publicly expressed their free consent to reach a mediation. It should be noted that when Urbina was detained he was in a delicate condition, he had fractures in his legs, in his rib, a bruise on his head, and Nicaraguan law allows those responsible for this type of act to recover their freedom by reaching an agreement with the victim's relatives; however, the Prosecutor's Office did not allow this. On 26 January 2021, the accusation against Urbina Lara was presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office before the Jinotega Court for the crime of reckless homicide. On 27 January, he participated in the initial hearing and the judge ordered his release on the grounds that the preventive measure would be periodic presentation. However, on 28 January, despite the release order, the police station had not granted her release, so her lawyer requested a meeting with the judge, who informed her that she had modified her order and ordered her remand in custody to be maintained, when, when questioned about the reasons for the change, she replied that they were ‘orders from above and she was only obeying’. Likewise, in February 2021, the local criminal judge in Jinotega, Diana Isabel Jarquín, ordered her release in a preliminary hearing, but hours later revoked the order. On 8 March 2021, he was sentenced to 4 years in prison for the crime of reckless homicide and transferred to the Waswalí Penitentiary System, in the department of Matagalpa, on 12 March 2021, where he remained in a punishment cell, completely isolated and not allowed visits from his family or his lawyer. During this period in Waswali prison, he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment, without any medical attention to control his high blood pressure and the hypoglycaemia he suffers from. His son managed to see him until 14 September 2021, noting the serious deterioration of Urbina Lara's health.
UDJ has submitted a report to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Urbina Lara's health and prison conditions and has denounced the torture he has been subjected to. In April of the same year, Urbina Lara started a hunger strike as an act of protest against the cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions inside the prisons, for which he was subjected to cruel treatment, was beaten and transferred to a dungeon, and was taken out of the cell to an unknown location. It was later learned that he had been transferred to La Modelo prison in Tipitapa. On 31 December 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a resolution in which it granted precautionary measures in favour of Urbina Lara, after considering that he is in a serious and urgent situation of risk of harm.
(AI translated) Demand guarantees and respect for his personal integrity, immediate medical attention, ask the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to request provisional measures from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and demand his prompt release.
(AI translated) Precautionary Measures No. 610-21 and No. 949-21, Resolution 113/2021, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/mc/2021/res_113-21_mc_610-21_mc_949-21_ni_es.pdf
Supreme Court of Justice sanctions JOSÉ MANUEL URBINA LARA https://www.poderjudicial.gob.ni/pjupload/sgc/pdf/circular_230523.pdf
GREX denounces ‘savage’ beating of political and common prisoners in Nicaraguan jail https://100noticias.com.ni/politica/133686-denuncian-golpiza-presos-politicos-carcel/
Lawyer and political prisoner Manuel Urbina Lara confirms that he is on hunger strike with other prisoners https://radio-corporacion.com/blog/archivos/148030/abogado-y-preso-politico-manuel-urbina-lara-confirma-que-mantiene-huelga-de-hambre-junto-a-otros-reos/
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