Amaya Coppen
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2020-087-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2020
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 12.865416
Longitude: -85.207229
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Nicaragua
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- UN (Dep.) High Commissioner on Human Rights
- Dates of prior UN action
- 19 November 2019; 21 January 2020
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Female
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
student leader, who was detained in the context of the 2018 protests in the city of León and released in June 2019 under the Amnesty Law.
- Type of rights defended
- Unclear in SG Report
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
had travelled to Geneva in September 2019 to meet with the High Commissioner and engaged with UN human rights mechanisms, a photo of which was posted on social media.
In August 2019, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Ms. Coppens’ detention in the context of the 2018 protests arbitrary (A/HRC/WGAD/2019/43, para. 60, 66, 85, 90, 93) and called on the Government to provide her compensation and other reparations (paras. 94–95).
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- UN (Dep.) High Commissioner on Human Rights
- Unclear
- Dates of engagement
- August 2019; September 2019
- Type of attempted engagement
- Participation in meeting on UN premises
- UN raised case of person/organization
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Unclear; December 2019
- Reprisal information
detention of, and charges against. The mandate holders addressed physical violence as well as discriminatory remarks and threats of rape that women in the group suffered, as well as Ms. Coppens’ conditions of detention. In December 2019, it was reported to OHCHR that two close relatives of Ms. Coppens were physically assaulted by a group of armed individuals and that her house was attacked when she was released from prison.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Charge/Investigation/Prosecution - General
- Detention/Imprisonment: Detention/Imprisonment - General
- Family/friends/acquaintances targeted
- Physical attack: Physical attack - General
- Property damage/raid/search/confiscation
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- Yes
- Further case development
she was released from prison around December 2019
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 0