Guidance

Nicaragua: information for victims of rape and sexual assault

Updated 18 August 2022

1. First steps

It is your choice about what you do next, but this information may help you in coming to a decision. The most important thing is to make sure that you are as safe as you can be. You can:

• contact the national emergency number on 118

• contact your tour operator if you are travelling with one

• contact your nearest British Embassy for Nicaragua, (based in Costa Rica) high commission or consulate. Embassy staff will be polite, patient, sensitive and non-judgmental, and can provide information on local police and medical procedures. Anything you tell them will be treated in the strictest confidence. They can contact your family or friends for you if you wish.

• contact the nearest Fiscalía or Prosecutor’s Office

• contact the nearest office of The Institute of Legal Medicine

• The IML (the acronym in Spanish) has its headquarters in Managua; however there are 27 delegations located in the following cities: Tipitapa, Sandino City, San Rafael del Sur, León, Chinandega, El Viejo, Granada, Masaya, Masatepe, Diriamba, Jinotepe, Rivas, Matagalpa, Estelí, Jinotega, Ocotal, Somoto, Boaco, Juigalpa, Nueva Guinea, Acoyapa, San Carlos, Bluefields, El Rama, Siuna, Waspán and Puerto Cabezas.

There should be no need for you to surrender your passport whilst any investigation is carried out. However, it may be necessary to show the original or a copy to identify the complainant to the Police or prosecution.

There are different organisations involved. The National Police work closely with the Fiscalía (equivalent of the CPS in the UK) who direct the investigation and compile evidence including formal statements. The Institute of Legal Medicine and the Ministry of Health is responsible for providing psychological aid and integral health care.

2. If you want to report the incident to the National Police in Nicaragua:

• You should report the crime in Nicaragua before returning to the UK if you want it to be investigated.

• If you choose to report the crime, try to do so as soon as you can, so that forensic evidence can be retained. Washing yourself or your clothes may make it more difficult for the police to obtain forensic evidence. If you change your clothes, consider taking those you were wearing to the police.

• You may wish to preserve evidence by retaining items that may retain traces of the offender such as condoms, clothing and bedclothes, and mobile phone texts.

• If you decide to approach the National Police directly, you may want to ask them to inform the British Embassy (in Costa Rica), who can provide you with consular support.

• Tell the National Police if you think you have been drugged.

• Insist you get a police report, and request a translation in English or an interpreter if possible.

3. Emergency numbers

• When contacting 118, you are likely to be asked for your identification (usually passport or ID number), address and contact details to receive notifications (email), details of the facts, description of the people involved, and available evidence.

• You can contact the Embassy on +506 2258 2025 and select “Consular Support” to discuss the options at any stage of the process.

4. If you do not want to report the incident to the National Police in Nicaragua

• The British Embassy will still be able to support you. This includes helping you access medical services, making arrangements to contact your insurance company, getting in touch with your family, giving you information about travel back to the UK and providing you with support in Nicaragua and the UK. They can give you lists of English-speaking lawyers and translators.

• It is your choice whether to report the crime. If you don’t report it your case may not be investigated, especially if there is no forensic evidence.

• If you do not report, you will still be able to get emergency medical, physical and psychological attention, as well as any follow-up checks you may require.

• Doctors are obliged to report such cases to the National Police and Fiscalía (Prosecutors).

• The Ministry of Health (MINSA) will be in charge, regarding not only medical care, but also referrals to the National Police, and providing follow-up.

5. If you want to report the incident to the police in the UK

It is possible to report the crime to police in the UK. However, it is for overseas police forces to investigate a crime in their jurisdiction. UK police forces will not usually investigate crimes committed overseas.

Local police forces can decide to request assistance from the UK police, but this cannot be guaranteed and is a very lengthy process. It can therefore be very difficult to guarantee that justice can be accessed without reporting the crime locally.

Please see Rape and Sexual Assault: Returning to the UK after Rape or Sexual Assault Abroad for more information.

6. Reporting the crime in Nicaragua - what happens next?

• The National Police via the Comisaría de la Mujer, Niñez y Familia will ask you to make a statement about the incident.

• You can request an officer of a particular gender although there is no guarantee one will be available. An interpreter will be provided by the local police if possible.

• The Comisaría will normally keep clothes and any other items that may be evidence of the crime, for forensic examination.

• If medical evaluation has not already taken place, this may take priority. Within 72 hours of the event, urgent consideration must be given to antivirals.

• The Police may refer you to a local hospital or to the Institute of Legal Medicine for a forensic medical examination.

• Some of the measures for the protection of victims that the law provides for include:

  • comprehensive, interdisciplinary care for women victims of violence;
  • safe, dignified service, in an environment of privacy and trust;
  • health services for women that particularly address diseases caused by gender violence;
  • counselling, support services and information on the consequences of the acts of violence experienced;

• If required, the Police and Public Ministry may also consider other which may include:

  • free legal, medical, psychological and psychiatric care and assistance through the Unidad Especializada de Atención a Víctimas, the IML and other public institutions;
  • access to shelters, self-help groups and damage recovery aimed at protecting women in families, in the community;
  • request the Judge, Judge or Court (at the request of the Public Ministry or of the victim) to impose precautionary measures.

7. Attending a forensic medical examination – what to expect

• When the National Police or Fiscalía (Prosecutor’s Office) refer the victim to the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML in Spanish), they will accompany the victim to the hospital for physical and psychological evaluation and treatment.

• If you attend the Institute first, the medical personnel will coordinate with the Public Ministry and National Police for further investigation and the implementation of protection measures. Within the IML, the Oficina de Atención a Víctimas de Violencia, will manage the interaction with the rest of the institutions.

• The evaluation requires your informed consent. It will aim to protect and prevent further harm.

• All hospitals and medical centres have facilities to treat victims of rape and sexual assault. A Forensic Medical Examiner (FME), will conduct the examination. If there is no FME available out of hours, other trained medical personnel from a hospital or medical centre can be made available.

• The examination will check any external injuries, and may take swabs, DNA, STD, urine and blood tests and give any medical treatment required.

• The examination results may be used as evidence by the prosecution or defence at trial.

• During the examination, the presence of a companion will be allowed if you so wish as long as they do not interfere in the process.

• Consular personnel can discuss any support you may need at the hospital and help in arranging that.

8. Medical Treatment

• When the victim of a Rape or Sexual Assault goes directly to the hospital for treatment of injuries or to avoid possible infections, medical staff are required by law to contact the National Police.

• This does not mean that you must press charges but it does mean that the police will carry out an initial assessment of the case and see whether there are public interest reasons for looking into the circumstances further.

• If additional medical evaluations or tests are required, the IML will refer the cases to the Ministry of Health.

• Hospital medical staff are able to give advice on HIV medication and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), a treatment that can prevent HIV infection.

• HIV PEP medication and Emergency Contraception need to be taken within 72 hours of the incident for it to be effective (HIV PEP ideally within 6-8 hours).

• The UK NHS may be able to commence or continue the 28-day PEP treatment on return to the UK.

• Victims of sexual assault can get emergency contraception in any medical centre or hospital without a prescription or medical referral. Additionally, this type of medication is available in any local pharmacy, at your own cost, without prescription.

• If you have had medication administered overseas, you may wish to keep the label or make a note of the name of the medication, so that you can let your local health provider know about it when you return home.

9. Police investigations in Nicaragua – what to expect

• The Judicial Police first contact will be limited to general information gathering, verifying that the case is a sexual crime and an initial verbal first account.

• This verbal first account is not regarded as the Formal Police Report.

• The investigation and prosecution phase is performed by the National Police, the Comisarías de la Mujer y la Niñez and the Public Ministry (Fiscalía) without charge. They will seize the evidence and then the Public Ministry will decide whether or not to prosecute the case in the Courts.

• The Chiefs of the Comisaría may issue an arrest warrant for the offender of a gender-based violence crime.

• When a person is arrested, police officers must inform the Public Ministry and put the accused before the Court.

• Victims would not usually be taken to the scene of the crime or asked to make an identification of a suspect at this stage.

In order to obtain monetary compensation from the offender, at the Public Ministry or victim’s request, the Courts may order effective compensation and reparation for any loss or damage caused.

• If you decide to take any civil action, you may do so directly, through a private lawyer or request the Public Ministry for legal advice or representation for the exercise of your right to restitution, reparation of damage and compensation for damages.

• Only prosecution and defence lawyers will have access to the victim/case notes.

10. Court procedures – what to expect

• When filing a complaint and requesting protection measures in any of the Criminal Courts, the service of legal professionals is free.

• Specialised District Courts will be in charge of processing the case. Attached to the Courts, interdisciplinary teams made up of at least one psychologist and one social worker will provide specialized assistance to victims.

• You may be given notifications and updates, if you have returned to the UK, by fax or email. You are allowed to exit the country after filing the case.

• If you have hired a private lawyer in Nicaragua, the notifications will usually be made only to them.

• Normally, all the trial hearings and the judicial process are carried out by the Public Ministry This means, you do not have to attend each hearing or be in Nicaragua during this phase.

• If the suspected person is brought to trial, it is possible you will be expected to testify in court.

• If authorised by the Court, you can testify from the place where you are. You must request the judge to take your statement virtually if you are not a resident, you cannot prolong your stay in the country at the time of the trial, or there is danger in returning to Nicaragua.

• If you wish, it is possible to drop charges once they are filed if the case. You will have to assume the payment of your own costs if you hired a private lawyer.

11. When you return home to the UK

• You may want to let your GP or a Sexual Assault Referral Centre know what has happened to you so that you can talk about the experience and seek further support and advice.

• If you believe you may be at risk of having contracted a sexually-transmitted infection (STI), you should ask your local health provider to test you, even if you have been tested in the country that the assault took place in.

12. Support organisations in Nicaragua

It is your choice to let people know. If you are ready to talk about it the following organisations may be able to help you.

12.1 Institute of Legal Medicine - (IML in Spanish)

Address: Managua Headquarters: From the Ministry of Labor 1 c. to the south. Telephone number: 2268 6149 ext no. 51. Telefax: 2268 6138 Hours of contact: 24/7.

Description of services offered:

The Legal institute performs forensic evaluations and participates in the study and analysis of relevant legal medical cases in coordination with judicial, police and Public Ministry authorities.

12.2 Specialised Unit for Attention to Victims

It can be accessed through the different Fiscalías or Public Ministry Offices all throughout Nicaraguan Territory.

Address: Km 4 Road to Masaya, Next to Bancentro, Managua, Nicaragua Telephone number: +505 2255 6800. Hours of contact at the offices: 8am - 3pm on weekdays. Through the national emergency number: 24/7.

Description of services offered:

The Specialised Unit for Attention to Victims provides assistance, legal, psychological and psychosocial, aimed at comprehensive and urgent care of victims of gender violence. It seeks to start their recovery process, provide legal support and help reduce re-victimization produced by the penal system. It also prepares victims for Oral and Public Trial, performed by clinical psychologists and personnel from the legal area, and provides, when necessary, short-term psychotherapeutic sessions.

12.3 Ministerio de la Familia, Adolescencia y Niñez (MIFAN)

Address: 75 meters south from the traffic lights on ENEL - Central, Managua. Telephone number: +505 2278 1620 Hours of attention: From 8:00 to 17:00 from Monday to Friday.

Description of services offered:

Mainly focused on the protection of children and adolescents, MIFAN guarantees their protection and safety, and accompanies them through the judicial process. It coordinates with the National Police, Comisaría, Defensoría, and Public Ministry.

13. Disclaimer

This information is provided by the British Government for the convenience of enquirers, but neither His Majesty’s Government nor any official of the Consulate accept liability for any loss or damage which you might suffer as a result of relying on the information supplied. This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical or legal advice.

Medical information has been provided by The Havens Sexual Assault Referral Centres of Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Rowan SARC NI and was accurate at the time of production.