human rights defender
Urgent support needed
(AI Translated) Sue the State of Nicaragua for information on the situation and whereabouts, to protect its rights to life and personal integrity; circumstances and conditions of its detention. In particular, disclose the place of detention, allowing access to its legal representatives and family; carry out an immediate comprehensive medical assessment of health condition, ensure access to adequate medical care, both basic and specialized, as well as any necessary medicines and treatments; and its release.
Organization affiliation
- Asociación Madres de Abril (AMA)
HRD's year of birth
1972
HRD's Gender
Woman
Type of HRD
- Lawyer
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Fight against impunity
HRD's geographical origin
Urban
HRD's bio and work
(AI Translated) Thelma del Rosario Montenegro Centeno is a lawyer, public notary, human rights defender, and producer from Jinotega, Nicaragua. She is a member of the Association Mothers of April (AMA) and belongs to a well‑known peasant and opposition family that has suffered systematic persecution by the Ortega‑Murillo regime.
For years she has carried out work denouncing and seeking truth and justice for the violence directed against her family. Thelma has acted as the spokesperson for her family, denouncing the impunity surrounding the wave of murders of her family members allegedly committed by police and paramilitaries in 2019, within the context of the repression deployed in Nicaragua against government opponents or those perceived as such. Among the victims are her brothers Oliver and Edgardo Montenegro, her husband Francisco Blandón, and her foster son Yalmar Zeledón.
Current Status
In prison (pre-trial)
Detained since
Aug 23, 2026
Sentence
(AI Translated) Unknown
Latitude: 12.23569701387728
Longitude: -84.97924804687501
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
Location of detention - City/Town
(AI Translated) Unknown
Location of detention - Facility
(AI Translated) Unknown
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
(AI Translated) Since her arrest at her home in Jinotega on August 23, 2026, her family and close relatives have not received any official information about her whereabouts or the conditions of her detention, despite multiple efforts made to ascertain her health status and current situation.
Recent case update / evolution
(AI Translated) Thelma del Rosario Montenegro Centeno was initially detained on August 19, 2026 after going to a police station in Pantasma, Jinotega, to renew her driver’s license. After a brief release, she was re‑arrested on the night of August 23, 2026 and transferred to Managua. Since then, she has been in a situation of enforced disappearance, as the authorities refuse to disclose her official whereabouts or health status.
Any other relevant documents
(AI Translated) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Resolution 77/2026, Precautionary Measures No. 1654-26, Thelma del Rosario Montenegro Centeno v. Nicaragua, September 28, 2026 https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/mc/2026/res_77-26_mc_1654-26_ni_es.pdf
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