human rights defender
HRD's year of birth
1970
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- Journalist/Blogger
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
HRD's geographical origin
Urban
HRD's bio and work
(AI Translated) Miguel Ángel Mendoza Urbina, 54, is a sports journalist who worked for major media outlets in Nicaragua since 1992. He was elected six times as "Sports Journalist of the Year."
In 2018, he made a decision that changed his life. On April 19, 2018, when demonstrations and social protests erupted in Nicaragua, Mendoza used his Twitter and Facebook accounts, with a total of 144,000 followers, to share news and serve as a reliable source of information, denouncing serious human rights violations and exposing events through videos and interviews with victims. Because of this, he was kidnapped, imprisoned, sentenced, exiled, and stripped of his nationality.
In 2023, he received the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for his contribution to freedom of expression. As part of the Scholarship Program for Democracy in Nicaragua, in October 2024 he conducted and published a study titled "Testimonies of Resilience of Nicaraguans Exiled by the Socio‑Political Crisis," which focused specifically on the testimonies of Nicaraguans exiled in the United States and Colombia.
Current Status
Released
Detained since
Jun 21, 2021
Date of release
Feb 9, 2023
Charge(s)
- Subversion
Sentence
(AI Translated) 9 years imprisonment
Latitude: 12.096942985994628
Longitude: -86.2812758311463
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
Location of detention - City/Town
(AI Translated) Managua
Location of detention - Facility
(AI Translated) Judicial Assistance Office “Evaristo Vásquez” known as the New Chipote
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
(AI Translated) He was in a punishment cell for 313 days, without adequate ventilation, only a small window through which food and medicine were occasionally brought. At night they constantly woke him by hitting the neighboring cells, preventing him from sleeping. In addition, the poor nutrition caused him to lose almost 20 pounds.
His family spent weeks not hearing anything about him, and he was more than a year unable to see his daughter.
Recent case update / evolution
(AI Translated) Exiled and stripped of his nationality and assets
On 02/10/23 a judicial notification was sent to the defense declaring him a traitor to the Fatherland and disabling his civil rights. Exiled to the United States on 02/09/2023, together with 221 other political prisoners, who were also stripped of their nationality.
He is currently in exile with his wife and daughter, denouncing through his social media the serious human rights violations and providing information about the situation in Nicaragua.
Any other relevant documents
(AI Translated) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Precautionary Measures No. PM 733-21 https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/mc/2021/res_85-21_mc_733-21_ni_es.pdf
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