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The jury for the Graciela Fernández Meijide Human Rights Award, composed of Rubén Chababo, Norma Morandini, Vicente Palermo, Inés Pousadela, and Eduardo Ulibarri, held a virtual meeting attended by Graciela Fernández Meijide herself, after reviewing the nominations received from Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela. In the meeting records, the jury unanimously expressed first of all its deep appreciation and recognition for the courage and commitment of each and every nominee, noting the unjust imprisonment they face solely for peacefully defending the values and principles that underpin democratic life.
The jury stated: “All the nominations we received are of citizens living in countries marked by closed civic spaces, where authoritarian regimes have suppressed the most basic civil liberties, condemning their societies to lives dominated by fear and repression. Each of these individuals’ life journeys deserves the admiration and solidarity of this jury.”
After completing the evaluation process, the jury decided to recognize the following nominees as recipients of the 2025 Graciela Fernández Meijide Human Rights Award:
NANCY ELIZABETH HENRÍQUEZ JAMES (NICARAGUA) A Miskito Indigenous woman from Nicaragua’s North Caribbean Coast, Nancy Henríquez began resisting the repression of her people by Daniel Ortega’s government as a child in the 1980s. In 1990, she graduated from high school and went on to study law and theology. In 1992, she founded the Association of Indigenous Women of the Caribbean Coast (AMICA), the first organization dedicated to defending the rights of Miskito women. Since the 1990s, she has worked to build alliances with Indigenous women across the region and has participated in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She has dedicated her life to defending the rights of Indigenous women, promoting their organization and visibility. In 1994, she became the first woman to be elected mayor of Puerto Cabezas (Bilwi), the capital of Nicaragua’s North Caribbean Autonomous Region, representing the Indigenous Yatama Party. She continued to advocate for women’s rights and participated in every possible forum to raise her voice for greater freedom and justice. At the time of her arrest by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship, she was serving as President and representative of the Yatama Party.
In 2023, she was charged with “undermining national integrity” and “spreading false news to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua and society,” in a prison trial where she had no legal counsel or means of defense.
She was sentenced to eight years in prison and remains detained at the Integral Women’s Penitentiary Facility (EPIM), better known as La Esperanza.
LIZANDRA GÓNGORA ESPINOSA (CUBA) Recognized as a symbol of the unwavering resistance of thousands of Cuban women who fight peacefully, bravely, and with dignity for democracy, justice, and freedom in Cuba. A mother of five, Lizandra was arrested for participating in the July 11, 2021, anti-government protests in Güira de Melena, Artemisa province. The Military Prosecutor’s Office delayed her case for months before formally accusing her in March 2022 of “ongoing sabotage, aggravated robbery, contempt, and public disorder,” seeking a 15-year prison sentence.
She was later sentenced by the Western Territorial Military Court to 14 years in prison on charges of “sabotage, aggravated robbery, and public disorder.”
While imprisoned at El Guatao, a women’s prison in Havana, Lizandra held hunger strikes and was repeatedly placed in punishment cells. Along with nine other political prisoners, she signed a letter urging the Cuban government to respond to the Vatican’s call for the release of 11J detainees.
On March 31, 2023, she was transferred from El Guatao to Los Colonos, a prison located in the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, further separating her from her children.
ALEXANDER MARIO FÁBREGAS MILANÉS (CUBA) Honored for being a respected and influential leader within Cuban society, even though his leadership is silenced in the climate of terror that prevails in Cuba. Part of his leadership has focused on recruiting young people to resist the dictatorship by exposing the illegitimacy of the regime and its violations of civil and political rights. He has consistently defended political prisoners and, even from within prison, continues to lead protests, influence other political detainees, and support unjustly detained or those abused by prison wards.
He was abducted on July 27, 2024, and imprisoned in a maximum-security facility in Villa Clara Province, charged with “propaganda against the constitutional order.” Two prior sentences related to his human rights activism were used as aggravating factors. In a rigged trial, prosecutors accused him of denouncing the government, particularly President Díaz-Canel. Three years earlier, on July 11, 2021, he had already been detained and sentenced for “incitement to commit a crime” for his peaceful activism in the streets. He is serving both sentences at La Pendiente, a maximum-security prison in Santa Clara, without access to the legal benefits guaranteed by law.
CARLOS JULIO ROJAS (VENEZUELA) A journalist who has gone beyond reporting, actively promoting social and political change. Through his work, he has raised awareness of Venezuela’s deep economic and social crisis, exposed abuses and inefficiencies of government power, and amplified the voices of the voiceless in service of his community and country. Carlos Julio Rojas is one of 894 political prisoners currently held in Venezuela.
His profession entails serious risks in a country where the media operates in a hostile environment, facing dozens of legal instruments designed to criminalize speech such as the “anti-hate,” “anti-fascism,” and “anti-blockade” laws.
Carlos Rojas was detained on April 15, 2024, when four hooded men in black clothing apprehended him while he was walking with his wife, Francy Fernández, near their home in the Candelaria parish of Caracas. He was charged with the alleged crimes of association, terrorism, conspiracy, instigation to commit a crime and attempted assassination. Rojas was subjected to enforced disappearance for 40 days, during which his family did not know where he was being held. It was later revealed he was being held at El Helicoide.
On January 22, 2025, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted him precautionary measures, recognizing the serious and urgent risk of irreparable harm to his rights. Before this most recent detention, Rojas had already been arrested in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2020.
AWARD CEREMONY On Saturday, August 23, during the 2025 edition of the Conference on the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism, a panel will be dedicated to the Graciela Fernández Meijide Human Rights Award. At this event, plaques will be presented to representatives who will accept the awards on behalf of the awarded political prisoners.
