I. INTRODUCTION REPORT No. 303/20 CASE 13.727 REPORT ON THE MERITS FABIO GADEA MANTILLA October 29, 2020 1. On October 5, 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission,” “the Commission,” or “the IACHR”) received a petition filed by Björn Arp (hereinafter “the petitioner”) alleging the international responsibility of the Republic of Nicaragua (hereinafter “the state of Nicaragua,” “the state,” or “Nicaragua”) for violating the human rights enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” or “the American Convention”) to the detriment of Fabio Gadea Mantilla, in the context of his political participation as a presidential candidate in the elections of 2011, in which President José Daniel Ortega Saavedra participated. 2. The Commission approved admissibility report No. 179/18 of December 26, 2018. 1 On January 31, 2019, the Commission notified both parties of said report and stated its availability to help them reach a friendly settlement, although the conditions for proceeding with this option were not in place. The parties benefited from the regulatory time-limits to submit their additional observations on the merits. All information received was duly forwarded to the parties. II. ALLEGATIONS OF THE PARTIES A. Petitioner 3. As a context to the petition, the petitioner indicated that, at the time of the incidents, in various countries of Latin America, attempts were being made to consolidate the initiative of an alleged “human right to indefinite reelection” of their presidents on the basis of Article 23 of the American Convention. He alleged that the Political Constitution of Nicaragua, in force at the time of the incidents, stipulated, in its Article 147, that no president or vice-president of the republic could run as a candidate for the same office if they had already served two terms. He also stressed that the above-mentioned article also banned immediate reelection to constitutional terms of office. He added that, at the time of the incidents, José Daniel Ortega Saavedra was serving his third term as President of Nicaragua. 4. The petitioner stated that, on March 9, 2011, the alleged victim filed, with the Supreme Electoral Council (Consejo Supremo Electoral―CSE) his candidacy to run for president, on behalf of the Independent Liberal Party Alliance (Alianza del Partido Liberal Independiente), in Nicaragua’s presidential elections to be held on November 6, 2011. He indicated that both the alleged victim and the other candidates decided to participate in the elections, bearing in mind that the incumbent President Ortega could not lawfully run for reelection pursuant to the provisions of the electoral system in force at the time. Nevertheless, the latter did submit his candidacy for the above-mentioned elections as the candidate for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional―FSLN), in breach of the ban set forth in Article 147 of Nicaragua’s Political Constitution. 5. The petitioner pointed out that, on April 1, 2011, he filed, along with other candidates, an appeal challenging the registration of President Ortega’s candidacy, arguing that it violated the Constitution’s ban on continuous reelection, as set forth in Article 47 of the Constitution. He stated that, on April 4, 2011, the CSE IACHR. Report No. 179/18. Petition 1360-11. Admissibility. Fabio Gadea Mantilla. Nicaragua, December 26, 2018. In this decision, the Commission declared that the petition was admissible with respect to Articles 8, 23, 24, and 25 of the American Convention in connection with Articles 1.1 and 2 of the same instrument. 1 1