human rights defender

Nelly Griselda López García

Actions and Campaigns

Urgent support needed

(AI translated) Medical and psychological attention to address their physical and psychological suffering. Proceed with the new settlement, acquire citizenship, family reunification, and continue the documentation process to seek justice.

Organization affiliation

  • Asociación Madres de Abril (AMA)

HRD's year of birth

1981

HRD's Gender

Woman

Type of HRD

  • Social and community leader

HRD's thematic area of engagement

  • Civil and political rights

HRD's geographical origin

Urban

Current Status

Released

HRD's bio and work

(AI translated) 41-year-old human rights defender, originally from Monimbó, Masaya, where she actively participated in the social protests of 2018. Member of the Madres de Abril Association, where she organized since its foundation to demand and seek justice for the youth assassinated during the repression of 2018, mainly for her nephew Eric, who was murdered during the cleanup operation in Masaya. In 2022, she stopped participating in AMA activities due to the threats, persecution, and harassment she and her family received. She is a seamstress and mother of two girls. Every day, she traveled to the Oriental Market in Managua to work as a salesclerk in a clothing store. On April 15, 2023, three police patrol cars arrived at her home and took her away with her husband. Her family did not know her whereabouts for 5 days. She is the aunt of Erick Antonio Jiménez, who was murdered during the cleanup operation on July 17, 2018, in Monimbó, for whom she demanded justice.

Detained since

Apr 16, 2023

Date of release

Jun 9, 2024

Charge(s)

  • Spreading fake news
  • Subversion

Sentence

(AI translated) 6 years of prison

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

Establecimiento Penitenciario Integral de Mujeres (EPIM), mejor conocido como «La Esperanza»

Allegations / reports of ill-treatment

(AI translated) She was arbitrarily detained on April 15, 2023, in a police operation by the Directorate of Special Police Operations at her home in Masaya, without a warrant for her arrest or a search warrant. She remained in police cells in District III of Managua until June 10, 2023, when she was transferred to the Women's Comprehensive Penal Establishment (EPIM), known as "La Esperanza". Her family was able to see her until June 12, 2023, when they were granted a visit. Her judicial process was held behind closed doors, and she was appointed a public defender whom they never had the opportunity to meet. She was not allowed access to her judicial file or to choose her own lawyer, and her case was not published in the "Nicarao System" of the Supreme Court of Justice; thus, her family learned of her conviction through their visits. During her detention at District III Police Station from April 15 to June 10, 2023, she was held incommunicado, denied access to sunlight, and prohibited from seeing her partner, who was also detained at the same center. She was kept in a small, crowded cell with several other women and subjected to continuous psychological torture, including sleep deprivation and wake-up calls in the early hours of the morning for interrogations. They showed her photos of her daughters, who were being pursued by plainclothes officers to take their pictures, causing distress and concern for their well-being. After her transfer to La Esperanza Prison, between June and early November 2023, she was allowed access to sunlight and provided optimal food. However, in mid-November 2023, she was transferred to maximum-security cells, denying her access to the yard, and on several occasions, she was given spoiled food, further complicating her medical condition. She was only allowed one family visit for approximately 45 minutes. Regarding her health, while detained at District III Police Station, she suffered from constant facial paralysis crises (a pre-existing condition) without receiving any medical attention. The same situation occurred at La Esperanza. In addition to the deterioration of her pre-existing conditions, such as hypertension, new pathologies have also emerged, including tachycardia and altered menstruation, which have persisted from June to the present. On December 17, 2023, she suffered food poisoning, causing diarrhea, and it is alleged that she even fainted without receiving any medical attention. For each of these illnesses, the prison guards have denied her access to medical care. The lack of proper medical attention has impeded the regulation of her medical conditions.

Recent case update / evolution

(AI translated) On September 5, 2024, she was released from prison and deported to Guatemala. On September 10, through a press release published by the Supreme Court of Justice, it was made known that the Nicaraguan nationality had been stripped from the 135 political prisoners who were deported to Guatemala on September 5, 2024, leaving them in a state of statelessness. She is currently in Guatemala, doing the necessary paperwork to decide where she will settle, initiate the process of acquiring a new nationality, and work towards family reunification, as her daughters remain in Nicaragua.

Any other relevant documents

(AI translated) Precautionary Measures No. 95-24, Resolution 7/2024, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/mc/2024/res_7-24_mc_95-24_en.pdf

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