CAT/C/NIC/CO/1
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organized for police officers, especially those serving in the Special Police Units for
Women, on the questions of gender violence and violence against children. In
accordance with the latest concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/NIC/CO/6) of February 2007, the
Committee urges the State party to adopt and put into practice an integrated and
multifaceted national strategy to eliminate violence against women and girls. This
strategy should include legal, educational, financial and social components. The
Committee also requests the State party to include detailed information in its next
periodic report on the measures adopted and their results and, in particular, to
provide data on the number and type of reported cases of violence against women, the
sentences passed and the penalties imposed on perpetrators, and the assistance
provided and compensation granted to victims.
16. The Committee is deeply concerned by the general prohibition of abortion set forth in
articles 143-145 of the Criminal Code, even in cases of rape, incest or apparently life-threatening
pregnancies that in many cases are the direct result of crimes of gender violence. For the woman
in question, this situation entails constant exposure to the violation committed against her and
causes serious traumatic stress and a risk of long-lasting psychological problems such as anxiety
and depression. The Committee also notes with concern that women who, for the reasons
mentioned above, seek an abortion face the risk of being penalized for doing so. The Committee
is also concerned that the law authorizing therapeutic abortion in such cases was repealed by
Parliament in 2006 and that, since the prohibition was adopted, there have been several
documented cases in which the death of a pregnant woman has been associated with the lack of
timely medical intervention to save her life, in clear violation of numerous ethical standards of
the medical profession. The Committee also notes with concern that medical personnel may be
investigated and punished by the State party for carrying out a therapeutic abortion under
sections 148 and 149 of the Criminal Code (art. 16).
The Committee urges the State party to review its legislation on abortion, as
recommended by the Human Rights Council, the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights in their latest concluding observations, and to consider the possibility of
providing for exceptions to the general prohibition of abortion for cases of
therapeutic abortion and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. The State party
should, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the World Health Organization,
guarantee immediate and unconditional treatment for persons seeking emergency
medical care. The State party should also avoid penalizing medical professionals for
the exercise of their professional responsibilities.
Protection of children against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
17. Although the Committee takes a favourable view of the National Plan of Action for the
Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence, it is concerned by the fact that domestic violence,
including sexual violence, and ill-treatment of children are an enduring and persistent
phenomenon in the State party (art. 16).