UN Urged To Condemn
Nicaragua's Abortion Ban
The United Nations should urge Nicaragua to
repeal its ban on abortion following a human
rights' review of the country on 8 February,
Amnesty International said today. During the
United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review,
UN members will have the opportunity to
raise questions about the country’s absolute
ban on abortion.
Nicaragua’s revised Penal Code, which came
into effect in July 2008, stipulates prison
sentences for girls and women who seek an
abortion and for health professionals who
provide health services associated with
abortion.
The prohibition includes cases where the
life of the woman is at risk or when
pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
“Nicaragua’s ban on abortion is the result
of a shocking and draconian law that is
compelling rape and incest victims to carry
pregnancies to term and causing a rise in
maternal deaths,” said Widney Brown, Senior
Director of International Law and Policy at
Amnesty International. “UN member states
should take this opportunity to hold
Nicaragua to account for a law that violates
women’s right to life, health and dignity.”
The organization also reiterated its call on
the Nicaraguan authorities to decriminalize
abortion in all circumstances. Amnesty said
Nicaragua should ensure women and girls have
access to safe and legal abortion services
when an unwanted pregnancy is a result of
rape or incest or when it threatens the
woman's health or life.
The revised Penal Code introduces criminal
sanctions for doctors and nurses who treat a
pregnant woman for medical conditions such
as cancer or cardiac emergencies where the
treatment may cause injury to or death of
the embryo or fetus.
Nicaragua’s Penal Code is in conflict with
the country’s Obstetric Rules and Protocols
issued by the Ministry of Health. The
protocol mandates therapeutic abortions as
clinical responses to specific cases.
Amnesty International’s researchers have
found that in Nicaragua the absolute ban on
abortions particularly affects young girls
who are victims of rape or incest.
According to a survey of media reports
between 2005 and 2007; 1,247 girls were
reported in newspapers to have been raped or
to have been the victims of incest in
Nicaragua. Of these crimes, 198 were
reported to have resulted in pregnancy. The
overwhelming majority of the girls made
pregnant as a result of rape or incest (172
of the 198) were between 10 and 14 years
old.
The organization also found an increase in
maternal deaths since the introduction of
the ban.
In the first 19 weeks of 2009, some 16% of
all maternal deaths were as a consequence of
unsafe abortion compared to none in the same
period in 2008.
Four UN expert committees established by
treaties, the Committee against Torture, the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, the Human Rights Committee and the
Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women have already
condemned this law and urged its revision,
but the Nicaraguan government continues to
ignore these calls.
“Nicaragua's law criminalizing abortion goes
against the advice of four UN treaty bodies
and fails to meet its obligations under
international human rights laws," said
Widney Brown. "Nicaragua needs to repeal
this law immediately and enact laws and
policies that promote the rights of women
and girls by ensuring their rights to
health, life and to be free from violence,
coercion and discrimination."
Nicaragua's ban on abortion is a cause of
grave concern in the wider international
community. Tens of thousands of Amnesty
International activists appalled at the
impact of the ban on women's and girl's
human rights, have signed petitions and
contacted the Nicaraguan authorities to call
for the repeal of the law.
The Universal Periodic Review is an
opportunity for the UN Human Rights Council
to examine the human rights record of all
member states. Each country is reviewed
every four years with the aim of ensuring
states are meeting all of their human rights
obligations.
Before the law that provides for a complete
ban on abortions was changed, therapeutic
abortion had been recognized as a legal,
legitimate and necessary medical procedure
for more than 100 years in Nicaragua. The
law was interpreted in practice to permit
abortion to be performed when the life or
health of the woman or girl was at risk from
continuation of pregnancy and, on particular
occasions, in cases of pregnancy as a result
of rape.
The Inter-American Commissioner for Women’s
Rights, Victor Abramovich, wrote a letter to
the Nicaraguan government prior to the
introduction of the complete ban to warn
that if such an extreme ban was introduced
the Nicaraguan State would be breaching its
obligations under the American Convention on
Human Rights.
A copy of Amnesty International’s submission
to the UN Universal Periodic Review on
Nicaragua, is available at:
www.amnesty.org
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