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Amnesty International (AI), the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN–UN), and the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs have joined calls on the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to provide “proof of life” for Miskito Indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera, who has been in a state of “enforced disappearance” since September 29, 2023.
“Keeping Brooklyn Rivera detained without information about his whereabouts or health, and without access to family members or lawyers, adds to the already grave human rights violations he is suffering. Nicaraguan authorities have an obligation to demonstrate without delay that he is alive and to guarantee that his rights are fully respected,” said Astrid Valencia, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director of Research for the Americas.
The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN–UN) also sent a letter to Ortega and Murillo requesting “detailed and official information that would make it possible to determine Rivera’s fate and whereabouts.”
Jan-Michael Simon, chair of GHREN, noted that since Rivera’s detention, “his whereabouts, the reasons for his detention, and his state of health remain unknown,” and called for “precise and complete information” about his current location.
Sources linked to the Nicaraguan Army told CONFIDENCIAL that the Indigenous leader—who, prior to his detention, served as a sitting member of the National Assembly for the Indigenous party YATAMA—is reportedly in “serious health condition.”
The sources also indicated that Rivera is “in police custody, in a state-run hospital in Managua.”
On the night of Friday, March 13, 2026, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs also issued a statement, denouncing that “the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship continues to keep elderly and ill individuals like Brooklyn Rivera imprisoned.”
“These individuals were jailed simply for dissenting from the regime and remain unjustly detained in inhumane conditions, deprived of basic rights and medical care. The regime’s cruelty toward those who dare to speak out is inconceivable,” the bureau said in a post on X.
Calls to disclose his whereabouts
The Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners demanded a day earlier, on Thursday, March 12, 2026, that since his detention, Rivera’s relatives “have had no news of him. They have not been able to see him or obtain any information about his whereabouts.”
As of now, his family has gone “895 days without knowing where he is,” and according to the organization, concern is “even greater due to his fragile health condition.”
The 73-year-old Indigenous leader was detained at his home in Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas), in Nicaragua’s North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. Since then, there has been no official information about his whereabouts, and his relatives have not been able to see or communicate with him.
“Rivera is believed to suffer from high blood pressure and, following his arrest, was reportedly transferred by ambulance due to his medical condition,” the Mechanism said.
Valencia of Amnesty International warned that “the lack of transparency surrounding Brooklyn Rivera’s detention confirms a broader pattern of repression against Indigenous leaders, critical voices, and civil society organizations in Nicaragua.”
“He, and all those detained solely for exercising their human rights, must be released immediately and unconditionally,” Valencia insisted.
No official information
The lack of official information continues to fuel uncertainty about his condition. Since his detention, his family has faced threats, harassment, and persecution by the National Police and prison authorities.
For decades, Rivera has been one of the most visible voices advocating for the territorial, political, and cultural rights of the Miskito people and other Indigenous communities in the region.
In July 2025, Tininiska Rivera, the daughter of the Miskito Indigenous leader, reported to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples the repression against Indigenous leaders.
“As a daughter, I have been forced into exile after receiving threats and living under constant persecution,” she said.
International campaign for his release
The human rights organization Amnesty International included Rivera in an international campaign calling for the release of three prisoners of conscience worldwide, including Tunisian lawyer Sonia Dahmani and Myanmar photojournalist Sai Azael Thaike.
According to Amnesty International, Rivera was detained solely for “defending the rights of his people.”
“Brooklyn’s detention is yet another example of repression in Nicaragua. The regime punishes with imprisonment, exile, or disappearance anyone who dares to think differently: Indigenous leaders, journalists, activists, and human rights defenders,” Amnesty International stated.
In its March 10, 2026 report, the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) said it has verified the enforced disappearance of 75 people—60 men and 15 women—over periods ranging from several weeks to more than two years.
“The whereabouts and fate of nine of these individuals (seven men and two women) remained unknown at the time this report was drafted. Among them is Brooklyn Rivera,” the Group of Experts said.
At the same time, GHREN noted that the country’s courts “have not admitted habeas corpus petitions, leaving families with no effective remedy.”
“Families also fear reprisals, which means there are undoubtedly more cases of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance than those reported,” GHREN added.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on March 12, 2026, and updated on Friday, March 13, 2026.
