By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
MANAGUA, February 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The pro-abortion feminists of Nicaragua’s “Women’s Network Against Violence” and their allies are continuing to wage an international publicity campaign to prevent an investigation of the Network’s possible role in covering up the sexual abuse of a nine-year-old girl.
The case has not visibly proceeded since last year, when investigators interviewed nine members of the Network accused of covering up a rape, instigation and conspiracy to commit a crime, and defending a criminal abortion, in relation to the celebrated “Rosita” case in 2003.
“Rosita”, whose real name has been concealed by the media to protect the girl, was reportedly nine years old when members of the Network secured an abortion for her after clandestinely moving her and her stepfather, Francisco Fletes, from Costa Rica, where he was under investigation for causing her pregnancy. Fletes was convicted of sexually abusing “Rosita” after her second pregnancy was discovered last year, and is serving a prison sentence.
The announced investigation into the role of the “Women’s Network Against Violence” in the affair was followed by an international pressure campaign by groups friendly to the Network, who demanded that it be stopped. However, in recent weeks the Catholic bishop of Estelí in Nicaragua has complained about the government’s inaction, raising fears among the feminists that the accusations against them will be fully investigated.
On January 29th, the Network issued a public demand that Nicaragua’s prosecutors reject the accusation against them, which had been made by the Nicaraguan Pro Human Rights Association (ANPDH). They called the accusations “manifestly false, and lacking any merit.”
The group even went so far as to claim that the acts they are accused of shouldn’t be considered crimes, because of “the anger, bad intentions, misinterpretations, prejudices, and limited tolerance that the supposed accuser has against women.”
However, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews, two of the accused women went on record in 2003, admitting in an interview with the Women’s Health Journal that they knew that Francisco Fletes was being investigated by Costa Rican authorities for the sexual abuse of his stepdaughter when they helped him, his wife, and stepdaughter to leave the country in 2003 (see coverage at https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07081603.html).
After executing their plan to use the “Rosita” case to promote “therapeutic abortion” in Nicaragua, the Network disposed of the body of Rosita’s child, making it impossible to check the DNA to verify the real identity of Rosita’s abuser.
Moreover, ANPDH alleges that there are witnesses among Rosita’s former neighbors who can testify that in fact the Network was aware of the ongoing sexual abuse against the girl well before it was revealed by the Nicaraguan media (the Network helped to maintain the family for years after the events, and made repeated visits to them, while they used the case in their pro-abortion campaign).
Bishop Abelardo Mata of Estelí, who is president of ANPDH, recently told the Managuan daily La Prensa that he simply wants an investigation. “We say that it should be investigated, that it should be analyzed and that it not be done as a political scheme or for making someone happy, ourselves or anyone, that the thing be done only for the purpose of justice,” he said.
On February 5th, the accused Network members began to speak out individually, complaining that the author of the formal accusation against them has no history of defending “women’s rights”. Martha Munguía, one of the accused feminists, told the Managuan daily El Nuevo Diario that “he’s just an instrument of political persecution” against her group.
The newspaper reports that the nine accused Network members met recently with Nicaragua’s Attorney General, Dr. Julio Centeno Gómez, demanding that he reject the accusation against them.
Centeno Gómez reportedly assured the nine that he recognized the “labor” of the group on behalf of “human rights” for women, but promised only to expedite the investigation.
The women seemed encouraged by his response. “He at least recognized that we are defenders of women’s human rights,” said Juana Jiménez, another accused Network member.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Human Rights Group Files Charges Against Nicaraguan Abortion Lobby
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07111904.html
Pro-Abortion Feminists Subpoenaed in Nicaragua Rape Coverup Investigation
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07113010.html
Nicaraguan Bishop Demands Justice for Rape Victim Sheltered by Pro-Abortion Feminists
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08012302.html
Pro-Abortion Group in Nicaragua Caught Aiding Rapist Escape Criminal Investigation
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07081602.html