constitute violations of the rights enshrined in the American Convention;
that the higher interest of the child was not taken into account, in
contravention of the provisions of the Code on Children and
Adolescents,10 and that justice in the instant case has been delayed
because no final judgment has been rendered in the proceedings that
began with the criminal complaint she filed on November 20, 2001.
14.
In that connection, she states that the Special Prosecutor for
Children and Adolescents of Nicaragua investigated the case and found
that “there is virtual impunity in connection with the crime perpetrated
against the child V.R.P. (…), despite the fact that she has
unquestionably and incontrovertibly stated who her victimizer was.”11
She adds that the Office of the Prosecutor for the Defense of Human
Rights investigated the case, determined that irregularities had occurred
in the proceedings, and concluded that Verdict No.33 acquitting Mr.
H.R.A., issued by the Jinotega Jury Court “from any perspective is
unjust and violates the human rights of the child with regard to her
physical, psychological, and sexual integrity, her protection under the
law, and her special protection (…) as well as all rights contained in the
Code on Children and Adolescents (…) [and] the HIGHER INTEREST of
the child was not taken into account.”12
15.
With regard to the steps ordered during the trial, the petitioner
reports that the Prosecutor General’s Office was not present at the
reconstruction of the facts at “Las Flores” farm. She adds that V.R.P.
was taken to the place of the facts in the presence of H.R.A. and the
[female] judge ordered her to indicate the place where she was raped,
as well as the position in which the accused placed her on that occasion,
while she was photographed, which made the child burst into tears.
16.
The petitioner alleges that although Forensic Report N°
16273/01 regarding V.R.P. concluded that “the presence of HUMAN
PAPILLOMA VIRUS together with CONDYLOMATOSIS ACUMINATE
indicates to us diseases that are only transmitted sexually, and, in such
10 The rule cited by the petitioner states: “the higher interest of the child or
adolescent is anything promoting his or her full physical, psychological, moral, cultural,
and social development consistent with the development of his or her faculties that is
of maximum benefit to him or her.” Code on Children and Adolescents of Nicaragua
(Law Nº 287 of May 27, 1998), Article 10.
11 The petitioner attaches a communication to the petitioner of September 8, 2003
from the former Special Prosecutor for Children and Adolescents, Carlos Emilio López
Hurtado.
12 From a document annexed by the petitioner on the statement of April 25, 2002 of
the Special Prosecutor for Children and Adolescents of the Office of the Prosecutor for
the Defense of Human Rights.
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