Amaya Eva Coppens in incommunicado detention
On 11 June 2019, 56 unjustly detained human rights defenders and political prisoners held by the Ortega regime in Nicaragua were released. Medardo Mairena, Irlanda Jerez, Ricardo Baltodano, and Amaya Eva Coppens, among others, were granted ‘amnesties’ with the application of a controversial blanket amnesty law that was adopted on 8 June 2019.
On 19 September 2018, Amaya Eva Coppens was accused of several charges by the Prosecutor’s Office, including kidnapping, illegal possession of firearms and terrorism. After nine days of incommunicado detention, the woman human rights defender was permitted to receive a visit from her parents in the women’s prison “La Esperanza”.
Amaya Eva Coppens is a Nicaraguan and Belgian woman human rights defender who played an important role during the recent democratization protests in Nicaragua. As a leader of the 19th of April Student Movement (Movimiento Estudiantil 19 de Abril) she is defending the right to protest and more generally Nicaraguan’s civil and political rights. The medical student is also a member of the student association “Coordinadora Universitaria Democracia y la Justicia”.
On 11 June 2019, 56 unjustly detained human rights defenders and political prisoners held by the Ortega regime in Nicaragua were released. Medardo Mairena, Irlanda Jerez, Ricardo Baltodano, and Amaya Eva Coppens, among others, were granted ‘amnesties’ with the application of a controversial blanket amnesty law that was adopted on 8 June 2019.
The human rights defenders were arbitrarily held in pretrial detention after participating in a wave of political manifestations against human rights violations by the government that began on 18 April 2018, and developed into a national political crisis. The protests were met with a disproportionate repression by government security forces, which left 325 killed and 2,000 wounded. They became political prisoners and were held in maximum security cells, where they faced torture and ill treatment by the police.
On 11 June 2019, 56 of these political prisoners, including a number of human rights defenders, were released from Nicaraguan prisons under the application of an amnesty law that was approved on 8 June 2019, in an expedited legal process that took 24 hours. The main outcome of the law is to remove the responsibility of “all the individuals who participated in the events that took place in the whole national territory from 18 April 2018 until the present date”, including state agents who are accused of human rights violations and international crimes, such as crimes against humanity. Up to this moment, 86 individuals remain arbitrarily detained, and are expected to be released in the upcoming weeks under the same law.
According to the amnesty law, the criminalisation processes that started against 760 human rights defenders and activists for their involvement in manifestations were suspended. Nonetheless, article 3 of the legal text’s non-repetition provisions area clear threat to human rights defenders and activists, as any activity that might be interpreted as political protest will resume their criminalisation processes, including any new charges. The threats against defenders contained in article 3 were supported by the president of the Parliament, who publicly praised the existence of this article as a ‘warning’ for anyone who would seek to exercise their freedom of expression or assembly in public demonstrations.
As part of the International Observatory of the Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua, Front Line Defenders has denounced the violent repression against human rights defenders in Nicaragua. It stressed that more than a year after the beginning of the crisis, the situation of the remaining political prisoners has seriously worsened while in detention due to deficient medical attention, violence, acts of torture and the lack of dignified conditions.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the decision to release the 56 activists and human rights defenders, while remaining concerned about the issuing and application of a general amnesty law that encompasses state agents who have been denounced as responsible for human rights violations, even crimes against humanity. Front Line Defenders stresses the need for Nicaraguan authorities to unconditionally free and drop all cases against human rights defenders in the country, to grant them full reparation over the violations they suffered, and to pursue justice for those responsible. Moreover, Front Line Defenders condemns the application of a blanket amnesty on behalf of state agents who might have committed gross human rights violations and international crimes.
On 19 September 2018, Amaya Eva Coppens was accused of several charges by the Prosecutor’s Office, including kidnapping, illegal possession of firearms and terrorism. After nine days of incommunicado detention, the woman human rights defender was permitted to receive a visit from her parents in the women’s prison “La Esperanza”.
Amaya Eva Coppens is a Nicaraguan and Belgian woman human rights defender who played an important role during the recent democratisation protests in Nicaragua. As a leader of the 19th of April Student Movement (Movimiento Estudiantil 19 de Abril) she was defending the right to protest and upholding Nicaraguan’s civil and political rights. The medical student is also a member of the student association “Coordinadora Universitaria Democracia y la Justicia”.
On 19 September 2018, the Criminal Court of the Capital District in Managua held the first hearing in Amaya Eva Coppens’ case. During the hearing the Prosecutor’s Office accused Amaya Eva Coppens and another protester, Sergio Midence, of different charges, including kidnapping, terrorism, illegal possession of fire arms, psychological harm, and blocking of public services. The Prosecutor’s Office argued that Amaya Eva Coppens and other members of 19th of April Student Movement organised and carried out attacks and violent acts on the streets of Leon to intimidate Nicaraguan citizens and disrupt the constitutional order in the country. The judge in charge of the case ordered that Amaya Eva Coppens should remain in preventive detention. The next hearing in the human rights defender’s case is scheduled for 3 October 2018.
On the day of her hearing, Amaya Eva Coppens’ parents were permitted to visit her in “La Esperanza” prison, where she remains in detention. She had been held in incommunicado detention for nine days, before she was presented in Court.
Front Line Defenders remains deeply concerned about the pattern of criminalisation against human rights defenders, such as Amaya Eva Coppens and other student leaders in Nicaragua, as the organisation believes that this is solely motivated by the defenders’ legitimate and peaceful work. Front Line Defenders urges the authorities of Nicaragua to immediately and unconditionally release Amaya Eva Coppens, and other human rights defenders and student leaders who remain in detention, and to drop all charges against them.
On 10 September 2018, around 5 p.m., woman human rights defender Amaya Eva Coppens was arbitrarily detained by government paramilitary forces in the city of Leon, Nicaragua. The authorities have confirmed that Amaya Eva Coppens is being held in the prison “El Chipote”. The authorities have also prevented any type of communication between the human rights defender and her family or lawyers since the arrest.
Amaya Eva Coppens is a Nicaraguan and Belgian woman human rights defender who played an important role during the recent democratization protests in Nicaragua. As a leader of the 19th of April Student Movement (Movimiento Estudiantil 19 de Abril) she is defending the right to protest and more generally Nicaraguan’s civil and political rights. The medical student is also a member of the student association “Coordinadora Universitaria Democracia y la Justicia”.
On 10 September 2018, Amaya Eva Coppens and another participant of the protests, Sergio Midence Delgadillo, were arbitrarily detained by 20 masked members of paramilitary groups and police officers in a house located in downtown Leon. They were arrested without an arrest warrant and their families and lawyers were only notified of their detention the next day. The human rights defender and Sergio Midence Delgadillo were taken to “El Chipote” prison. Students who have recently been released from that prison, described having been subjected to physical and psychological torture during their detention. There is a high risk that Amaya Eva Coppens could face similar treatment.
Despite the fact that more than 48 hours have passed since she was arrested, Amaya Eva Coppens has neither been presented in court nor allowed to communicate with her lawyer. Since her family has also been prevented from visiting her, the imprisonment conditions remain unknown. According to local newspapers, Amaya Eva Coppens and Sergio Midence Delgadillo were detained because of their alleged participation in terrorist acts; however, they have not been formally accused of terrorism.
Amaya Eva Coppens was previously attacked, intimidated and harassed for her involvement in the student movement, including a written message outside her house wall, “Plomo, plomo” (“Lead, lead”, an expression referring to bullets). On another occasion, petrol was spilled outside her house. In April, the human rights defender was insulted and beaten by government supporters and police forces during protests and she received death threats on social media. Due to these attacks, Amaya Eva Coppens was forced to move out of her house for three months.
Since April 2018, human rights defenders in Nicaragua have been particularly targeted by attacks, threats, and smear campaigns against them, hindering their work on the protection of human rights, which are being severely undermined in the context of the crisis engulfing the country. In the past five months there has been a pattern of criminalisation against human rights defenders and student movement leaders.
Some of the student leaders and activists that have been detained are Edwin Carcache Dávila, Yubrank Suazo, Byron Estrada, Luis Quiroz, Nahiroby Olivas, Juan Pablo Alvarado, Levis Rugama, Yaritza Mairena and Victoria Obando. Several of them faced smear campaigns, harassment and death threats on social media before being detained. According to local NGOs, the student leaders were arbitrarily detained and transferred to “El Chipote” prison without informing them, their lawyers or their families of the motives behind their arrest or the charges they face, evidencing a clear pattern of criminalisation.
In June 2018, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) launched a Special Monitoring Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI) and deployed its technical staff to follow up on the recommendations based on the IACHR’s visit to Nicaragua, including the Commission’s Preliminary Observations and its report, “Serious human rights violations in the context of social protests in Nicaragua”. MESENI has expressed concern about the attacks against human rights defenders in Nicaragua and urged the local authorities to refrain from stigmatising their work. MESENI has also noted the existence of a pattern of repression characterised by arbitrary detentions, persecution by the courts and criminalisation of activists who oppose the government, demonstrators, students and human rights defenders.
Moreover, on 29 August 2018, President Ortega expelled the United Nation’s delegation of observers after they published a comprehensive report on Nicaragua’s political crisis which accused the government of serious human rights violations against demonstrators, human rights defenders, journalists, students and social leaders. Nicaraguan authorities have been limiting the space for international observers to monitor and formulate recommendations on the human rights situation in the country.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the criminalisation of Amaya Eva Coppens and other student leaders in Nicaragua, as the organisation believes that this is solely motivated by the HRDs’ legitimate and peaceful work. Front Line Defenders urges the authorities of Nicaragua to immediately and unconditionally release Amaya Eva Coppens, Sergio Midence Delgadillo and other human rights defenders and student leaders that remain in detention, and to drop all charges against them.
