Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Panama.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Panama. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Panama U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/panama/
[accessed 3 August
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT Impunity among
security forces existed due to weak and decentralized internal control
mechanisms for conduct and enforcement. The largest security force, the
Panama National Police, has an internal affairs office, responsible for
enforcing conduct violations, but it withdrew from past efforts to modernize.
The government rarely made cases of police abuse or corruption public, and
the National Criminal Statistics Directorate was unable to provide strong
data on police internal affairs, making the extent of impunity difficult to
gauge. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS Physical Conditions:
According to the Ministry of Government’s National Directorate of the
Penitentiary System (DGSP), as of October the prison system held 17,895
prisoners in facilities with an intended capacity of 14,591 inmates. Gang activity in
prisons represented a daily threat to prisoner safety. Deficient prison
security management contributed to a December 2019 massacre in La Joyita Prison, resulting in 13 deaths and 14 persons
injured. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/panama/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 15 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE
USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? The country is free
from major threats to physical security such as war and insurgencies.
However, police have been accused of beatings and other forms of excessive
force, including while dispersing protests. The prison system is marked by
overcrowding, poor health conditions, and a lack of security. In December
2019, 15 inmates were killed in La Joyita, a prison
on the eastern outskirts of Panama City. Spanish news service EFE reported
that heavy caliber weapons, including three rifles, were found in the prison
after the fighting. Panama: Protester
deaths need proper investigation Amnesty
International AI, 8 February 2012 www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2012/02/panama-protester-deaths-need-proper-investigation/ [accessed 12 January
2019] Panama’s
authorities must investigate allegations of excessive use of force by police
after two protestors were killed during three days of clashes between
security forces and the Ngäbe-Buglé people, Amnesty
International said today. Jerónimo Rodríguez Tugrí was allegedly shot dead by police in San Felix in
eastern Chiriquí province on 5 February, and more than 40 others – including
police officers – have reportedly been wounded during the demonstrations. On
7 February the media reported the death of another demonstrator, Mauricio
Méndez, in David, Chiriquí province. The circumstances of his death have yet
to be confirmed. The authorities must carry out a full, independent,
impartial and prompt investigation into the protesters’ deaths and all those
injured and bring those responsible to justice”, said Guadalupe Marengo,
Deputy Americas Director at Amnesty International. Members of the Ngäbe-Buglé indigenous people - who live in the west of
the country in the provinces of Chiriquí, Veraguas, and Bocas del Toro -
blocked the Pan-American Highway as part of a protest begun on 30 January
over fears that an amendment to a bill could pave the way for hydroelectric
projects on their lands. Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture U.N. Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment -- Doc.
A/53/44, paras. 206-219 (1998) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/panama1998.html [accessed 5 March
2013] 3. Subjects of
concern 218. The Committee
is concerned about the following: (a) The absence in Panama's
legislation of a stipulated maximum duration of pre-trial detention; (b) The high
proportion of unsentenced detainees in Panama's
prisons; (c) The possibility
that compliance with article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention may be
jeopardized by the repatriation of refugees coming from neighbouring
countries. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 EXCESSIVE USE OF
FORCE Possible excessive use
of force by the security forces remained a concern. Two Indigenous
people were killed and 40 people, including police officers, were wounded
during protests by the Ngöbe-Buglé Indigenous
People in January and February. The protests were sparked by proposed laws
that would make it easier for companies to build hydroelectric projects on Ngöbe-Buglé land. Reports indicated that the police used
tear gas in close proximity to medical centres and
that those arrested were denied access to legal representation. In February,
the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples urged the
government to open a dialogue with the Ngöbe-Buglé
affected, to investigate the circumstances of the deaths and to ensure that
those responsible were held to account. Three people,
including a nine-year-old boy, were reportedly killed during protests in
October against the proposed sale of state-owned Free Trade Zones in the city
of Colón. The police reported that several officers had been injured by
gunshots and missiles thrown by some of the protesters. IMPUNITY Efforts to ensure
justice for victims of human rights violations during the military
governments (1968-1989) made slow progress. In January, the government
established a Special National Commission to assist in locating and
identifying the remains of victims of enforced disappearance. A Truth
Commission, which reported in 2002, estimated that 207 people had been
forcibly disappeared and killed under the military governments. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For more articles:: Search Amnesty International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=panama+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 10 January 2019] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/panama [accessed 10
February 2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] The military was
formally abolished in 1994. The police and other security forces that remain,
while accountable to civilian authorities through a publicly disclosed
budget, are poorly disciplined and corrupt. Like the country’s prison guards,
police officers frequently use excessive force. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61736.htm [accessed 10
February 2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61736.htm [accessed 4 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – Prison guards
occasionally abused inmates. While admitting there were complaints against
prison guards, the PNP's Professional Responsibility Office (DRP) did not
provide statistics on the number of complaints of alleged police abuse
against prison inmates. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Panama", http://gvnet.com/torture/Panama.htm, [accessed <date>] |
