## Facts

- Nicaragua enacted Electoral Law No. 331 (2000), requiring municipal candidates to be nominated by registered political parties or alliances meeting formal registration, territorial-structure, and signature requirements.
- YATAMA, an indigenous regional political organization representing Atlantic Coast indigenous and ethnic communities, presented candidate lists for municipal offices in the North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions for the 5 Nov. 2000 municipal elections.
- On 15 Aug. 2000, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) excluded YATAMA’s candidates for alleged noncompliance with Electoral Law No. 331.
- YATAMA and affected candidates sought domestic relief, including constitutional remedies, challenging the exclusion and requesting review of the CSE decision.
- The Supreme Court of Justice declared the challenges inadmissible, leaving the CSE decision in effect and preventing YATAMA’s participation in the elections.
- Proceedings were brought in the inter-American system alleging that the exclusion and lack of effective review impaired indigenous political participation and denied judicial guarantees.

## Issues

1. Whether electoral requirements and their application, which excluded an indigenous regional organization and its candidates from municipal elections, violated the rights to participate in government and to equal protection.
2. Whether the absence of a simple, prompt, and effective mechanism to challenge electoral authority decisions violated the rights to a fair hearing and judicial protection.
3. Whether the State failed to fulfill its duties to respect and ensure rights and to adopt domestic measures needed to make Convention rights effective.

## Decision

- The court dismissed the State’s preliminary objections and held Nicaragua internationally responsible for violations of the American Convention on Human Rights.
- Nicaragua violated the rights to a fair hearing and judicial protection (Arts. 8(1) and 25), in relation to the duties to respect/ensure rights and adopt domestic measures (Arts. 1(1) and 2), because domestic remedies did not provide effective judicial control of CSE decisions affecting fundamental rights.
- Nicaragua violated the right to participate in government and the right to equal protection (Arts. 23 and 24), in relation to Arts. 1(1) and 2, because the electoral framework and its enforcement imposed unjustified barriers that effectively excluded indigenous political participation.
- The court ordered reparations including monetary compensation and costs, publication of the judgment, and legal reforms to (i) create an effective recourse against CSE decisions and (ii) adjust electoral rules to prevent discriminatory exclusion of indigenous and ethnic organizations.

## Legal Principles

- Political participation must be effective in practice; formally neutral electoral rules violate the Convention when their design or application results in unjustified exclusion of historically marginalized groups.
- Equality and nondiscrimination obligations require the State to remove legal and practical obstacles that restrict political participation, including obstacles arising from electoral structures that do not account for indigenous forms of organization.
- Decisions of electoral authorities that affect Convention rights must be subject to effective judicial review; the right to judicial protection requires a simple, prompt, and effective remedy.
- The duty to adopt domestic measures obliges States to modify laws and procedures to ensure accessible remedies and to align electoral regulation with Convention rights, including guarantees of nonrepetition through institutional reform.

## Conclusion

The court found that Nicaragua’s exclusion of YATAMA from municipal elections, combined with the lack of effective judicial review of electoral decisions, violated rights to political participation, equality, and judicial protection, and required both individual reparations and reforms to electoral law and remedies to secure indigenous participation on equal terms.


Yatama v. Nicaragua, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 127 (2005)