Rights Groups Demand Nicaragua Respond Over Indigenous Leader's Critical Health

A coalition of five human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Raza e Igualdad, has urgently called on the Nicaraguan state to account for the deteriorating health of indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera Bryan. Rivera has been detained for nearly three years and is currently hospitalized in critical condition in Managua.

In a joint statement, the organizations highlighted that Rivera has been subjected to enforced disappearance for over 970 days. "His reappearance in a very serious health condition is not an isolated or accidental event, but the direct consequence of decisions and omissions by the Nicaraguan state, which had an absolute obligation to protect his life and integrity," they argued. The groups emphasized that enforced disappearance is one of the most severe violations of international law, and a state's duty of care is heightened when a person is in its custody.

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His reappearance in a very serious health condition is not an isolated or accidental event, but the direct consequence of decisions and omissions by the Nicaraguan state, which had an absolute obligation to protect his life and integrity.

The human rights groups contend that the Nicaraguan state has deliberately failed in its most essential obligations by concealing Rivera's whereabouts, denying his family information, blocking access to his defense, and failing to guarantee adequate medical attention. They further stated that when such practices are systematically applied against opponents, leaders, and critical voices, they constitute crimes against humanity. The extreme deterioration of Rivera's health, they assert, is the responsibility of the Nicaraguan state, as the illnesses he suffers from "could and should have been treated."

Organizations like the Collective of Human Rights Nicaragua Never More and the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua expressed solidarity with Rivera's family, indigenous communities seeking justice, and families of other political detainees who remain without information about their loved ones. They noted that the state's imposition of silence, uncertainty, and fear as tools of control also inflicts suffering on these families. The situation with Rivera serves as a stark reminder for the international community to maintain its attention on Nicaragua and demand respect for basic human rights obligations.

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The illnesses that today put him at risk (Rivera) could and should have been treated. The lack of medical attention, prolonged lack of communication, and inhumane detention conditions are not administrative errors. They are part of a pattern of repression that affects dozens of people who remain disappeared in state custody.