Yonarqui Martínez García

Activity
Lawyer and human rights defender of women political prisoners

Attacks experienced
Surveillance and harassment

THE FACTS – Since late in the afternoon until 4 o’clock in the morning of Sunday February 9, police agents surveilled the home of lawyer and human rights defender Yonarqui Martínez, where she lives with young children.

It is important to remember, as we denounced in a #WHRDAlert, that last November, assailants fired on her home after a number of different acts of tracking and harassment.

Last December, Yonarqui also participated in a hunger strike in the San Miguel Arcángel Church in Masaya in solidarity with the mothers and family members of women political prisoners, and as a result, her health has been seriously affected.

Yonarqui Martínez is a widely recognized attorney who, in midst of the socio-political crisis that has existed in Nicaragua since April of 2018, has been outstanding in her accompaniment of women political prisoners. Due to her support, she has repeatedly been the target of different types of attacks, including criminalization, threats, and arbitrary arrests, as well as those previously mentioned.

In recent months, there seems to be a State strategy adopted by groups near the government to harass, intimidate and obstruct the work of lawyers who accompany political prisoners who have been criminalized.

We of IM-Defensoras condemn this latest attack against Yonarqui Martínez and her family, and we hold the Nicaraguan government responsible for any harm that may come to them.

Likewise, we demand an end to the campaign of hate and harassment against Yonarqui and other lawyers who reclaim their right to pursue their profession and defend human rights in conditions of security and absolute liberty.