Protestant pastor denied urgent medical attention in prison

CSW is calling on the Nicaraguan government to ensure that the serious medical needs of imprisoned Protestant pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López are met as a matter of urgency, after receiving reports that prison officials are withholding medicine brought to him by family members.

The pastor, who has diabetes and hypertension, is now experiencing kidney failure and there are concerns that if the authorities are putting his life at risk by continuing to block him from receiving appropriate medical attention.

Pastor Vílchez López, who has a history of speaking out against human rights violations committed by the government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo, is being held in a wing reserved for political prisoners in ‘La Modelo’ Jorge Navarro National Penitentiary System in Tipitapa. He was beaten and detained on false charges by police officers on 15 May 2022.

He was not told on what charges he was being arrested, and his family were kept unaware of his whereabouts for three days. On 21 September 2022 Pastor Vílchez López was sentenced by a court in Managua to 23 years in prison on trumped up charges for sexual assault. The court refused to consider any evidence that would have supported his acquittal, including CCTV footage that confirmed his alibi at the time of the alleged crime.

The pastor has long been a target of the Ortega-Murillo government because of his outspokenness and also due to his ability as a church networker to convene large religious gatherings across different denominations. In 2018 he was threatened at his home by a police officer after he published statements on social media condemning the use of violence against peaceful protesters. A year later he was severely beaten for verbally confronting police officers, who routinely surrounded his home, resulting in several fractures to his hand.

Since August 2024 Pastor Vílchez López has been provided with only one small container of water a day. He is not permitted any books and his Bible and glasses have been confiscated. He is rarely allowed to go outdoors and is regularly subjected to verbal abuse by the prison director. Since his detention, prison officials have consistently refused to pass on packages of food and basic supplies, including medicine for hypertension, blood circulation and other health issues, brought by his relatives to the prison.

On 12 November 2024 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requested information from the government of Nicaragua. No response was provided, and on 16 December 2024 the IACHR issued a request for urgent precautionary measures on behalf of Pastor Vílchez López.

CSW’s Director of Advocacy and Americas Team Leader Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘We demand that the Nicaraguan authorities ensure that Pastor Efrén Vílchez López receives appropriate medical attention and that he is given access to all medications and food provided to him by his family as a matter of urgency. He has spent over four years in detention in inhumane conditions and we continue to be gravely concerned for his wellbeing. Pastor Vílchez López should never have been detained and we call on the international community to demand his immediate release.’