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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has granted precautionary measures in favor of 64-year-old Nicaraguan citizen Ricardo José Mendoza Irigoyen, who was arbitrarily detained on January 23, 2026, and has since been subjected to enforced disappearance, the NGO Colectivo de Derechos Humanos para la Memoria Histórica de Nicaragua (Human Rights Collective for the Historical Memory of Nicaragua) announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the organization said the IACHR decided to grant precautionary measures after determining that Mendoza Irigoyen is “in a serious and urgent situation that places his life and personal integrity at risk in Nicaragua.”
According to the petition submitted to the IACHR by the Collective, Mendoza Irigoyen was arrested during an operation at his home in the Carretera Sur area of Managua.
Since then, his family has received no information about his whereabouts or fate, despite repeatedly seeking answers from state authorities.
The IACHR requested that the Nicaraguan government determine his whereabouts, clarify whether he is being held in state custody, and allow access to him by his family members and legal representatives, the Collective said. The organization is made up primarily of exiled Nicaraguan activists and is based in San José, Costa Rica.
Since his detention, his relatives have made inquiries with various government agencies, but authorities have provided no official information.
Regime Remains Silent About Ricardo Mendoza Irigoyen
The IACHR also noted that the Nicaraguan government failed to respond to its request for information during the precautionary measures proceedings.
As a result, the Commission called on Nicaragua to take the necessary steps to determine Mendoza Irigoyen’s status and whereabouts, specify whether he is in state custody, and provide information about the circumstances and conditions of his detention. It also requested that the government disclose the location where he is being held and guarantee access by his family and legal counsel.
According to publicly available information, Mendoza Irigoyen was not affiliated with any political party and had not participated in political demonstrations or party activities.
For many years, he worked for a U.S. company dedicated to the study of Nicaragua’s flora.
The Human Rights Collective has denounced his case as an enforced disappearance and has demanded that the Nicaraguan government immediately disclose his whereabouts, provide proof that he is alive, allow him to communicate with his family and legal defense, guarantee him appropriate medical care, and release him unconditionally, along with all other political prisoners.
