The IACHR grants Precautionary Measures to the President of National Committee for the Prevention of Torture and her family
Veronika
04-01-2022
Bethania Godinho
International Justice and Human Rights Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defense.
On December 28, 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 107/2021, whereby it granted precautionary measures to Glenda Carolina Ayala Mejía and her family, upon considering that she is in a serious and urgent situation presenting a risk of irreparable harm to her rights as a result of her work as President Commissioner of the National Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (MNP - CONAPREV) in Honduras.
The applicants reported that Glenda Carolina Ayala Mejía, Presiding Commissioner of the MNP-CONAPREV, has been subjected to threats against her and obstacles to her work, between the years 2017 and 2021, in Honduras. Similarly, it was informed that such events have been reported to the state authorities on repeated occasions. Recently, an alleged plan to assassinate Ms. Glenda Ayala was reported. The State informed that on February 5 and October 29, 2021, the Protection Mechanism assessed that the legal requirements to grant protection measures to Ms. Glenda Ayala were not met.
The IACHR assessed the information received in light of the relevance of the work carried out by the MNP-CONAPREV for the Inter-American System, as well as the visibility of Ms. Glenda Ayala as president of that institution. When analyzing the facts, the IACHR considered that the reported threatening events were related to the work of Ms. Glenda Ayala, particularly the recent information regarding the alleged plan to assassinate her. In addition, the IACHR observed the different complaints lodged over the years with the authorities without substantive progress and the lack of appropriate measures for the specific situation of Ms. Ayala.
Sources and further reading:
IACHR, The IACHR grants Precautionary Measures to the President of National Committee for the Prevention of Torture and her family. December 28, 2021. https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2021/351.asp.
