Nicaraguan Human Rights Ombudsman Resolution Finds Significant Human Rights Violations in Padilla Case

In a resolution issued this June, the Nicaraguan Ombudsman for the Defense of Human Rights condemns the actions of the Matagalpa Police Department in their December 2005 raid on the Padilla family property, finding that the Matagalpa Police Department actions violated the Padilla family's human rights, specifically their rights to physical and psychological integrity, individual liberty, due process, and judicial security. The resolution calls for members of the Matagalpa police department to face criminal charges for their role in the raid, in which organic coffee farmer and human rights activist Vicente Padilla was beaten unconscious and suffered a broken rib at the hands of Matagalpa riot police driven to Padilla's property by wealthy landowner Jose Esteban McEwan Callejas.

Esteban McEwan and Vicente Padilla have been involved in a property dispute since 2001, when McEwan first tried to take over Padilla's small, organic coffee farm where he has lived with his family for the past thirteen years. The dispute has been characterized by intimidation, extra-judicial violence, and accusations of police and judicial corruption on the part of McEwan and his employer, State Street Coffee, against the Padilla family and their supporters.

On December 29, 2005, the Matagalpa department, acting at McEwan's behest, sent a group of Matagalpa police officers and riot police to the Padilla family property in McEwan's private vehicle. In the ensuing raid, Padilla and his two eldest sons were severely beaten by police officers and arrested, and Vicente was held for two days before being released without any charges against him.

The resolution finds that the police actions in the December 29 incident were illegal and violated the Padilla family's human rights. Though representatives of the National Police gave conflicting reasons as to why the raid took place, the action was unjustified, as neither a search warrant nor arrest warrant against Padilla had been issued. Furthermore, the police brutality against the Padilla family was unprovoked and excessive, for which the offending police officers should be charged criminally. Finally, the arrest and detention of Padilla and his sons violated their right to due process and Judicial security.

The resolution also criticizes the Matagalpa police for allowing a private citizen [McEwan] to influence police investigations and activities and for using McEwan's vehicle to execute a police action in a dispute in which he is involved.

The resolution is the result of a six-month investigation by the Ombudsman's office in consultation with the Padilla family and the Matagalpa police department. The document is a significant development because it represents an objective, third-party confirmation of the police brutality and the role played in the episode by State Street Coffee employee Jose Esteban McEwan.

For more information on the Ombudsman resolution, please contact the Casa Ben Linder at casabenlinder@gmail.com.