Nicaragua’s Military Manual (1996) states, with respect to international armed conflicts, that assistance to the wounded, sick and shipwrecked includes a requirement of “respect for and protection of medical establishments and units” and “protection of civilian hospitals”. 

Nicaragua’s Military Penal Code (1996) provides for the punishment of any soldier who “knowingly violates the protection due to medical establishments, medical mobile units, … and medical material … which are recognizable by the established signs or the character of which can unequivocally be distinguished from a distance”, provided that the protection due is not misused for hostile purposes.