TITLE: PANAMA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994 AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DATE: FEBRUARY 1995 PANAMA Panama is a representative democracy with an elected executive composed of a president and two vice presidents, an elected 72-member legislature, and an appointed judiciary. President Ernesto Perez Balladares took office on September 1 at the head of a multiparty coalition. He was elected in May in elections conducted under the auspices of the independent Electoral Tribunal. International observers described the elections as free, fair, and violence-free. Panama has had no military forces since 1989. The Legislature approved a constitutional amendment October 4 to abolish a standing military. The amendment went into effect October 24 and contains a provision for forming a "temporary" force under certain national security circumstances. The Panamanian National Police (PNP) under the Ministry of Government and Justice are responsible for law enforcement. The Judicial Technical Police (PTJ) perform criminal investigations; the PTJ is under the Public Ministry, headed by the Attorney General. There continued to be credible reports of abuse of detainees and prisoners by members of both police forces. Panama has a free enterprise, service-oriented economy which uses the U.S. dollar. It grew at least 5 percent in real terms in 1994, the fifth consecutive year of growth. Poverty is pervasive, however, with great income disparities between rich and poor, and continued high unemployment and underemployment. Principal human rights abuses continued to be prolonged pretrial detention, an inefficient and often corrupt criminal justice system, and overcrowded, oppressive prisons. There were also three extrajudicial killings in January. Violence against women remained serious, a problem compounded by socio-cultural factors that inhibited recognition and treatment. The Government continued to prosecute some of those responsible for abuses committed during the 21 years of dictatorship from 1968 to 1989. For example, in May a court sentenced three former National Guardsmen to 15-year prison terms for the 1971 kidnaping and murder of Hector Gallego, an activist Roman Catholic priest. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing There were no reports of political killings perpetrated by government agents. A presidential decree regulates the use of force by members of law enforcement organizations. The authorities are investigating three unrelated incidents in January in which seven different PTJ agents may have violated this decree by using deadly force to stop fleeing suspects. After an independent investigation, a review board relieved two of these officers from duty, administratively reassigned two others pending outcome of internal investigations, and referred two officers to the PTJ's legal advisor for consideration of criminal prosecution. The seventh officer was in PTJ custody awaiting trial at year's end. b. Disappearance There were no reports of politically motivated abductions or disappearances. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The Constitution prohibits use of measures which could damage the physical, mental, or moral integrity of prisoners or detainees. There were no substantiated reports of torture of either prisoners or detainees during 1994. Anecdotal evidence suggests police still use physical violence to control detainees, particularly during initial arrest and holding phases. The PTJ and the PNP have offices of professional responsibility that act as internal affairs organs to hold officers accountable for their actions. Both have staffs of independent investigators and administrative authority to open internal investigations which, upon completion, go to their respective inspectors general for submission to review boards. The review boards, in turn, recommend to the service's director the appropriate action; the service director has the final authority to determine the disposition of each case. Penalties can include reduction in rank, dismissal, and, in severe cases, criminal prosecution. As of December, the PTJ had investigated 153 cases of all categories of misconduct; it dismissed at least 52 officials for their actions and forwarded 16 cases for possible prosecution in the courts. Similarly, as of December, the PNP had investigated 967 cases of all categories of misconduct; it imposed administrative sanctions on 157 officials for their actions and forwarded at least 46 cases for possible criminal prosecution. Due to a growing number of use-of-force complaints lodged against the PTJ, the Supreme Court, in collaboration with the Attorney General, named a commission in March to revise training procedures, including firearms instruction, for PTJ personnel. As part of a 3-week orientation course, the PNP provided 20 hours of instruction to incoming recruits on laws and procedures to protect the human rights and legal guarantees of citizens. Future PTJ police cadets are to receive human rights instruction as part of their basic training. Prison conditions throughout Panama remained deplorable and threatening to prisoners' health. Most prisons were built in the 1950's and are dilapidated; medical care is inadequate; and escape attempts were frequent. There were credible reports of corruption by guards, as well as abuse of prisoners. The National Corrections Administration has authority to discipline prison guards for abuse of detainees or prisoners with either penal or civil sanctions, depending on the severity of the abuse. In practice, however, few prisoners or detainees have used these measures to seek redress for alleged abuse by prison guards. In order to relieve overcrowding, the legislature passed a bill on December 21 which would quicken the pace of prosecution, thereby reducing the number of pretrial detainees. The Ministry of Government and Justice has also begun a program of conditional release of certain categories of prisoners. Neither of these measures has yet had a significant effect in reducing overcrowding. In March prisoners at the David public jail in western Chiriqui province held a hunger strike to protest the lack of prison space and the slow movement of their cases in the judicial system. The strike quickly spread to the public jail in Colon and to Panama City's notorious Modelo prison, provoking hunger strikes at both facilities. The Government promised to have qualified personnel visit the prisons at least once a month to check on the welfare of both detainees and prisoners. It also promised to quicken the pace of prisoner transfer to the new 1,000-bed La Joya facility, even though it still lacked basic amenities, such as furniture, sufficient potable water, and a trained administrative staff. The Government has made only limited efforts to comply with these promises. It did arrest the Modelo Prison Director on December 15 on charges of corruption. However, the prison overcrowding that caused the earlier hunger strikes still persists. Although the National Corrections Department depends on PNP personnel, who are not properly trained, to supply its guard force, the guard response in the riots at Modelo prison in March and again in December was restrained and appropriate. The authorities transferred administration of La Joya prison to trained correctional officers. For the first time, prison administrators also classified inmates, a process intended to determine the appropriate security level needed for prisoners while also separating them from pretrial detainees. Although this was a significant step forward, the La Joya prison houses only a small fraction of the total prison population. All other prisons use PNP guards and intermingle convicted prisoners with pretrial detainees. Conditions on Coiba Island Penal Colony continued to be deplorable. Approximately 75 percent of the 550 prisoners still on Coiba await trial, and the majority will have served almost two-thirds of their potential sentences before reaching trial. Despite a plan to transfer prisoners to other detention facilities, Coiba continued to receive new prisoners from other prisons as part of an effort to defuse the violence caused by overcrowding. Prisoners and detainees reportedly suffer greatly from malnutrition and shortages of potable water. Medical care is practically nonexistent. Reversing a decision late in the Endara administration to place Coiba under police control, the new Government named a civilian administrator for Coiba. The guard force, however, continued to consist of police guards instead of civilian correctional officers. Geographic isolation, plus lack of mail and communications, separated detainees from their attorneys and caused many to miss trials. Conditions at women's prisons were better than those at men's prisons. Still, there were credible allegations that guards and staff at the Women's Rehabilitation Center (CFR) sexually abused female detainees and convicts. Female prisoners also reportedly suffered from overcrowding and poor medical care. Guards and administrators allegedly trafficked in telephone access, medicine, and personal hygiene items. A human rights group credibly charged in July that the prison administration intentionally turned a blind eye toward such activities by guards and staff. This led to the investigation and temporary removal from office of the CFR director in July. The Perez Balladares Government named a permanent administrator in September. d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile The Constitution stipulates that arrests must be carried out with a warrant issued by the relevant authorities, except when a person is apprehended during the commission of a crime. The law requires the arresting officer to inform the detainee immediately of the reasons for arrest or detention and of the right to immediate legal counsel, to be provided by the State for the indigent. There were charges of arbitrary detentions by the new Government during a September operation dubbed "energy and courtesy" that featured police roundups of street criminals in heavily populated areas of Panama City and Colon. The PNP suspended four officers for excessive use of force in this operation but found no grounds for the arbitrary detention charges. Human rights groups confirmed that there had been few instances of police abuse in the operation. The Constitution provides for judicial review of the legality of detention and mandates the immediate release of any person detained or arrested illegally. The law prohibits police from detaining suspects for more than 24 hours without bringing them before a competent authority. In practice, the authorities rarely met legally mandated time limits and often violated the 24-hour time limit for detention by several days. The preliminary investigation phase often lasts from 2 to 4 months, due to extensions granted by the Public Ministry and additional communications with the court. While the Public Ministry can legally grant extensions up to 14 months in most cases, it often allows case processing to exceed the approved extensions, leaving the accused in incommunicado detention. This problem is exacerbated by an inefficient case tracking system and a slow, inflexible notification phase. Extended pretrial detention of those charged continued to be one of Panama's most serious human rights problems. According to government statistics, pretrial detainees comprised 79 percent of the prison population as of August, about the same proportion reported in July 1993. Analysis of these statistics indicates almost 25 percent of the total prison population is under detention beyond legally permissible time limits. According to public defenders, the average period of pretrial custody for a defendant was approximately 16 months; pretrial detention in excess of the maximum sentence for the alleged crime was common. A legal mechanism exists to hold the gvernment accountable in cases where a detainee spends a significant amount of time incarcerated only to be found innocent. Although the redress procedure is not excessively complicated, few former detainees seek redress for their time in detention. The Constitution prohibits exile, and there were no reports of forced exile in 1994. e. Denial of Fair Public Trial The President appoints nine Supreme Court magistrates to 10-year terms, subject to Legislative Assembly confirmation. The Supreme Court magistrates appoint appellate court judges, who, in turn, appoint circuit and municipal court judges in their respective jurisdictions. The Attorney General, who heads the Public Ministry jointly with the Solicitor General, appoints the superior and district attorneys. At the local level, municipal mayors appoint administrative judges similar to justices of the peace. These justices exercise jurisdiction over minor civil and criminal cases in which they may impose fines or sentences of up to 1 year. This system has serious shortcomings: Defendants lack adequate procedural safeguards, the officials need not be (and normally are not) attorneys, and some allegedly engage in corrupt practices. In practice, appeal procedures are nonexistent. More affluent defendants tend to pay fines while poorer defendants go to jail, one of the chief factors leading to current prison overcrowding. The Constitution provides that persons charged with crimes have the right to counsel and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. If not under pretrial detention, the accused may be present with counsel during the investigative phase of the proceeding. Judges can order the presence of pretrial detainees for the rendering of statements, amplifications, or confrontation of witnesses. Trial proceedings are conducted orally with the accused present. The Constitution establishes trial by jury in some circumstances; by law, however, jury trials are not an option in most cases. The Constitution obliges the Government to provide public defenders for the indigent. Although many public defenders are still appointed after the investigative phase of the case, many more public defenders than in past years were assigned to cases prior to commencement of the investigative phase, increasing the defense's opportunity to present evidence. Public defenders' caseloads remained staggering, numbering hundreds of cases per attorney and seriously undermining the quality of representation. Panama continued to hold political prisoners in 1994. Eduardo Herrera Hassan, an ex-member of the former Panama Defense Forces (PDF) who became director of the National Police force and reportedly attempted to foment action against the Endara Government in December 1990, was held without charges until he received a presidential pardon in September. In addition to Herrera, the Government has held an additional 30 to 50 persons in pretrial detention since December 1990, for offenses related to the coup attempt. The presidential amnesty of September 23 released some of these prisoners, but many remain in extralegal detention. The judicial system continued to prosecute those responsible for human rights and other abuses committed during the Noriega period. The Government brought to trial, convicted, or sentenced a number of the most notorious defendants. In January courts sentenced former Panamanian Defense Force (PDF) members Felipe Camargo, Luis Cordoba, and Nivaldo Madrinan to 5-year terms in prison for the 1988 illegal arrest and torture of Eduardo Sanchez Pena, an anti-Noriega activist. In May Madrinan, former head of the National Investigation Directorate (DENI), received an additional 5-year prison term for his role in the 1971 murder of Colombian priest Hector Gallego. In September the courts found six ex-PDF members, including Camargo, guilty of human rights violations against anti-Noriega activists Alberto Conte and Leonardo Figueroa, as well as former anti-Noriega coup participant Milton Castillo. Over 25 cases are pending against ex-PDF major Felipe Camargo (convicted of human rights abuses both in 1992 and 1994). Ex-PDF major Luis "Papo" Cordoba and Lt. Colonel Madrinan, both defendants in the Spadafora trial, were also scheduled to stand trial for the 1985 kidnaping and torture of Dr. Mauro Zuniga, president of the National Civic Coordination, an organization opposed to the Noriega regime. In June President Endara granted individual pardons to over 500 Noriega-era officials and politicians who had committed "political" crimes, i.e., support for antidemocratic policies. On September 23, President Balladares granted amnesty to 216 persons whom he described as having been convicted or detained for crimes of a political nature. He granted conditional release to 46 more detainees. The amnesty included five of the six suspects in the slayings of U.S. citizen Raymond Dragseth and U.S. Embassy employee Fernando Braithwaite, civilians the PDF executed during Operation Just Cause in 1989. This left only 1 of the original 23 defendants charged with either homicide, kidnaping, or conspiracy to stand trial in connection with these brutal killings. f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence The Constitution provides for the inviolability of the home and communications. The authorities may not examine personal documents, monitor communications, or enter and search private residences except by written order. However, there were credible complaints that PTJ agents failed to follow legal requirements for arrest and search warrants and instead conducted indiscriminate searches of entire apartment buildings or housing complexes. Such complaints continued during the first months of the Perez Balladares Government. Despite the view of some that the Constitution prohibits all wiretapping, the Government maintains that wiretapping with judicial branch approval is legal. Under the guidelines established by new antinarcotics legislation passed in July, the Public Ministry may engage in undercover operations, including the use of "videotaping and recording of conversations." The Supreme Court will ultimately have to decide whether wiretapping is constitutional and, if so, under what circumstances. Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: a. Freedom of Speech and Press Panamanians generally enjoy freedom of speech and press as provided for in the Constitution. Six national daily newspapers, 3 commercial television stations, 2 educational television stations, and over 95 radio stations provide a broad choice of informational sources; all are privately or institutionally owned. While many media outlets took identifiable editorial positions, the media carried a wide variety of political commentaries and other perspectives, both local and foreign. Panamanian and foreign journalists worked and traveled freely throughout the contry, and the population had access to foreign media. There were no substantiated cases of Government harassment of journalists. The Government has legal authority to place both direct and indirect restrictions on the media but took no such actions in 1994. This election year was characterized by a high level of official tolerance of the media, which openly reported on candidates and their platforms. Libel is a criminal offense subject to fines and up to 2 years in prison. Opinions, comments, or criticism of government officials acting in their official capacity are specifically exempted from libel prosecution, but a section of the law allows for the immediate discipline of journalists who show "disrespect" for the office of certain government officials. The Government did not use the antilibel provisions of the law to restrict freedom of the press, but the existence of the law may inhibit some writers' self-expression. President Balladares took steps to abolish certain laws which restrict freedom of the press. The media opposed these steps since complete abolition of the laws would also end many press privileges. Among these laws is one which establishes a censorship board. There were no reports of the board taking any restrictive actions in 1994. The law provides for academic freedom, which was freely exercised in public as well as private universities. b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association The Constitution provides the rights of peaceful assembly and association, and the Government generally respects these rights. No authorization is needed for outdoor assembly, although prior notification for administrative purposes is required. Panamanians have the right to form associations and professional or civic groups without government interference. They may form and organize political parties as they like, though parties must meet membership and organizational standards in order to gain official recognition and participate in national campaigns. During the 1994 election campaign, citizens frequently gathered and marched to protest as well as to support government policies. There were no reported instances of inappropriate government action against such marches. c. Freedom of Religion The Constitution provides for religious freedom. All religious groups are free to worship and to proselytize without government restriction or interference. Clerics are constitutionally prohibited from holding public office, except as related to social assistance, education, or scientific research. d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation The Constitution grants Panamanians the right to move freely within the country and to depart and return freely. These rights are respected in practice. There were no cases of forcible repatriation of refugees or asylees. A 9 p.m. curfew for minors under 18 years of age in Panama province, imposed in 1992, remained in effect although it was enforced mainly in high-crime areas. Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government The Constitution provides for a representative democracy with direct popular election by secret ballot of the president, two vice presidents, legislators, and local representatives every 5 years. The independent National Electoral Tribunal arranges and supervises elections. Panamanians enjoy the right to join any political party, to propagate their views, and to vote for candidates of their choice without government interference. The Government respected these rights throughout the year. The Electoral Tribunal implemented the June 1993 electoral reforms during the 1994 campaign, resulting in a transparently free national election. There are no legal barriers to participation by women or people of African, Asian, or indigenous descent, but in fact their presence in senior leadership positions in government or political parties is not yet proportionate to their numbers within society. However, representatives of these groups are increasingly visible in midlevel political and governmental positions. The Government provides semiautonomous status to the San Blas reserve, populated mainly by indigenous Kuna Indians. San Blas has two representatives in the Legislative Assembly, proportionate to its population. Locally, the reserve is governed by tribal chiefs, who meet in a general congress twice a year. A woman ran for president and finished second with over 28 percent of the vote. The newly elected President of the Legislative Assembly is a woman, and Panama City residents elected a woman as mayor. However, women held only 5 of 72 Legislative Assembly seats and 3 of 11 Cabinet positions. Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights Panamanian human rights organizations, including both church and secular groups, generally operated without governmental restrictions. These organizations carried out a full range of activities, including investigations and dissemination of findings. Human rights advocates generally had free access to government officials while investigating complaints. The Government did not favor an investigation by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in response to a complaint filed about Operation Just Cause, but it did not obstruct inquiries related to the investigation.