human rights defender
Jhon Cristopher Cerna Zúñiga (El Tigrillo)
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
Urgent support needed
(AI translated) Access to justice
Organization affiliation
- Movimiento de Defensa Estudiantil de la Universidad Centroamericana
- Movimiento por la Autonomía Universitaria de la Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
HRD's year of birth
1995
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- Social and community leader
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) Student leader and social activist. Engineering student at the National University of Engineering (UNI), who joins the April 2018 student protests as part of the Movement for University Autonomy of the National University of Engineering and the Student Defense Movement of the Central American University (UCA). In April 2018, he participated in the takeover of the Engineering University, which was carried out by students participating in the protests to protect their lives, suffering several attacks from the police and heavily armed paramilitaries. During this time, he had to assist several injured students. He received a pair of shotgun pellets (one on the shoulder and one on the temple) and a ricochet from a Ragunov rifle (Russian sniper rifle) that left a scar on his face. He is a survivor of the attack on the Divine Mercy Church (July 13, 2018), where he remained with other university students under high-caliber bullets used by the police for more than 14 hours. As a result, two students were killed: Gerald Vásquez (20 years old) and Francisco Flores (21 years old). He has worked to raise awareness about the killings and human rights violations against political leaders, as well as providing medical and health brigades. He has also provided training on physical and digital security and workshops on human rights and university autonomy. Cerna, who is also a human rights defender since 2018, remained in safe houses due to threats and persecution until he was violently detained by the national police in 2020. As of April 2018, he was in his last year of university and was expelled from his studies by the university authorities for participating in the protests. At the time of his capture, he suffered from a lung injury and a separation of one of his shoulders; he also had neural damage, which aggravated his health due to the beatings he received during his arrest, resulting in two broken ribs. During his time in prison, he was subjected to serious violations of his rights, acts of torture, and cruel, inhuman treatment.
Detained since
Feb 28, 2020
Date of release
Sep 2, 2023
Charge(s)
- Other
Sentence
(AI translated) 12 years of prison
Latitude: 12.183752347983708
Longitude: -86.08590737952117
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
Location of detention - City/Town
Tipitapa
Location of detention - Facility
Sistema Penitenciario Jorge Navarro, conocido como Carcel La Modelo
Recent case update / evolution
(AI translated) Conviction details: 12 years in prison and a fine of 600 days (C$37,434).
On February 9, 2023, he was released and deported to the United States. On 10/02/2023, the defense attorney received a judicial notice declaring him a traitor to the Motherland and suspending his civic rights, in addition to depriving him of his nationality and ordering the confiscation of his assets. He currently lives in exile with his family, achieving family reunification with his mother and two sisters in September 2023, assuming Spanish citizenship to avoid the statelessness status imposed by the Nicaraguan government. He continues to promote justice for the victims of repression and is documenting his case to submit a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) with the support of AUDJUDRNIC.
Any other relevant documents
(AI translated) Precautionary Measures No. 489-20, Resolution 82/2020, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/pdf/2020/82-20mc489-20-en.pdf
Inter-American Court of Human Rights Resolution of October 4, 2022, Provisional Measures, Nicaragua, Case 45 Persons Deprived of Their Liberty in 8 Detention Centers https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/medidas/45personas_en_01.pdf
John Cerna, “El Tigrillo”: ""They beat us while we were tied up, hands and feet"" https://confidencial.digital/english/nation/john-cerna-el-tigrillo-they-beat-us-while-we-were-tied-up-hands-and-feet/
Attachments
Documented by
- Country(ies) of nationality
- HRD's year of birth
- 1995
- HRD's Gender
- Man
- Type of HRD
- Social and community leader
- HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
- Economic, social and cultural rights
- Organization affiliation
- Movimiento de Defensa Estudiantil de la Universidad Centroamericana
- Movimiento por la Autonomía Universitaria de la Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
- HRD's Picture
- HRD's bio and work
(AI translated) Student leader and social activist. Engineering student at the National University of Engineering (UNI), who joins the April 2018 student protests as part of the Movement for University Autonomy of the National University of Engineering and the Student Defense Movement of the Central American University (UCA). In April 2018, he participated in the takeover of the Engineering University, which was carried out by students participating in the protests to protect their lives, suffering several attacks from the police and heavily armed paramilitaries. During this time, he had to assist several injured students. He received a pair of shotgun pellets (one on the shoulder and one on the temple) and a ricochet from a Ragunov rifle (Russian sniper rifle) that left a scar on his face. He is a survivor of the attack on the Divine Mercy Church (July 13, 2018), where he remained with other university students under high-caliber bullets used by the police for more than 14 hours. As a result, two students were killed: Gerald Vásquez (20 years old) and Francisco Flores (21 years old). He has worked to raise awareness about the killings and human rights violations against political leaders, as well as providing medical and health brigades. He has also provided training on physical and digital security and workshops on human rights and university autonomy. Cerna, who is also a human rights defender since 2018, remained in safe houses due to threats and persecution until he was violently detained by the national police in 2020. As of April 2018, he was in his last year of university and was expelled from his studies by the university authorities for participating in the protests. At the time of his capture, he suffered from a lung injury and a separation of one of his shoulders; he also had neural damage, which aggravated his health due to the beatings he received during his arrest, resulting in two broken ribs. During his time in prison, he was subjected to serious violations of his rights, acts of torture, and cruel, inhuman treatment.
- HRD's geographical origin
- Urban
- Country or area of detention
- Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
- Location of detention - City/Town
- Tipitapa
- Location of detention - Facility
- Sistema Penitenciario Jorge Navarro, conocido como Carcel La Modelo
- Geolocation of detention
Latitude: 12.183752347983708
Longitude: -86.08590737952117
- Geolocation of detention
- Detained since
- Feb 28, 2020
- Current Status
- Released
- Date of release
- Sep 2, 2023
- Charge(s)
- Other
- Sentence
(AI translated) 12 years of prison
- Recent case update / evolution
(AI translated) Conviction details: 12 years in prison and a fine of 600 days (C$37,434).
On February 9, 2023, he was released and deported to the United States. On 10/02/2023, the defense attorney received a judicial notice declaring him a traitor to the Motherland and suspending his civic rights, in addition to depriving him of his nationality and ordering the confiscation of his assets. He currently lives in exile with his family, achieving family reunification with his mother and two sisters in September 2023, assuming Spanish citizenship to avoid the statelessness status imposed by the Nicaraguan government. He continues to promote justice for the victims of repression and is documenting his case to submit a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) with the support of AUDJUDRNIC.
- Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
(AI translated) On February 28, 2020, he was arbitrarily detained near his home and remained in prison for 1075 days. During his detention, he was physically assaulted and had two ribs broken; he was then transferred to the offices of the Judicial Assistance Directorate, known as "El Chipote". On March 4, 2020, he was transferred to La Modelo Penitentiary Center. For the first six months in prison, he was held with common prisoners, but on September 16, 2020, he was transferred to the maximum-security cell block known as "El Infiernillo", where the cells measure 2.2 meters wide by 3.2 meters deep, and include two bunk beds, a water tank, a hole for bodily waste, and a small washing area. There are two small windows, each 15 x 15 centimeters in size, located at a height of two meters. The front door is lined with iron sheets, there is no lighting, and the air circulation is very poor, causing extreme temperatures inside the cells.
While in prison, he managed to publish a letter denouncing Ortega's dictatorship on the Central American platform El Faro, on June 28th. As a result, he was transferred to maximum-security cells where he remained isolated, without medical treatment, and with family visits of 40 minutes every 40 days, separated by a glass partition and a phone. His family was subjected to ill-treatment and abuse during these visits. While in "El Infiernillo", he had three convulsions due to the shrapnel lodged in his head. He slept naked on a concrete slab because of the heat and used his prison uniform as a mattress. He frequently received beatings, and when he was taken out of the cells, he was shackled at the ankles and wrists, then tied to a bench where they would hit him with batons or kick him in the head and elbows; when they grew tired, they would slap him.
- Urgent support needed
(AI translated) Access to justice
- Any other relevant documents
(AI translated) Precautionary Measures No. 489-20, Resolution 82/2020, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/pdf/2020/82-20mc489-20-en.pdf
Inter-American Court of Human Rights Resolution of October 4, 2022, Provisional Measures, Nicaragua, Case 45 Persons Deprived of Their Liberty in 8 Detention Centers https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/medidas/45personas_en_01.pdf
John Cerna, “El Tigrillo”: ""They beat us while we were tied up, hands and feet"" https://confidencial.digital/english/nation/john-cerna-el-tigrillo-they-beat-us-while-we-were-tied-up-hands-and-feet/
- Documented by
- Consent status
- Consent to register, store and publish the information
Supporting files
sorted by
Date added
3 relationships, 2 entities