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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.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
illegitimacy, social class, sex, religion, or political views.
Women
Women generally do not enjoy the same economic opportunities as
men. The law does not recognize property in common, and
divorced or deserted women are often left destitute. However,
the Legislative Assembly approved a new Family Code in April
which will recognize joint or common property in marriages.
The new Code will take effect in early 1995 after the executive
branch identifies the financial resources necessary to fund
additional tribunals and related activities.
Although the Constitution mandates equal pay for equal work,
wages paid to women are often lower than those for equivalent
work performed by men and increase at a slower rate. A United
Nations report published in August noted that women occupy only
4 percent of the managerial positions in Panama. Although
statistics are lacking, there are credible reports of sexual
harassment, firings for pregnancy, and hiring practices based
on age and "attractiveness."
Domestic violence against women continued to be a serious
problem. A late-1993 report by the reputable Center for the
Development of the Woman estimated that victims report as few
as 20 percent of the sexual assaults committed against women in
San Miguelito and Panama City--two of the most densely
populated areas in the country--to law enforcement
authorities. The Foundation for the Promotion of the Woman
released an informal study that stated that the emergency room
of the largest public hospital in Panama City treated 1,222
domestic violence victims during 1993. As of September, that
foundation itself assisted almost 400 victims of domestic
violence or abuse. Other private groups and government
agencies also operated programs to assist victims of such
abuse. The Government acknowledged the seriousness of violence
directed against women by signing the Inter-American Convention
on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence
against Women.
A number of private women's rights groups, including groups for
indigenous women, concentrate on disseminating information
about women's rights, countering domestic abuse, enhancing
employment and other skills, and pressing for legal reforms.
Indigenous women vocally criticized male government
administrators and politicians for overlooking indigenous
women's rights. In response to pressure by women's
organizations, the Government created a Women's Department at
the Ministry of Labor in July 1993 to report on abuses in the
workplace as well as larger social issues. The office,
however, was given little funding and has been relatively
ineffective.
Children
The Tutelar de Menores, a quasi-judicial authority with
additional administrative roles, plays a role in the protection
and care of minors, but the Government has no specific office
charged with protecting children's rights. A women's advocacy
group reported that 72 percent of children are born from
nonstable, short-term relationships. Many children suffer from
malnutrition, neglect, and inadequate medical care. Juvenile
courts report a high incidence of juvenile delinquency in major
urban areas. The new Family Code calls for restructuring the
underfunded and overtasked juvenile court authority that
includes a rehabilitation program, an orphan care authority,
and a juvenile detention authority. It also clarifies
reporting authority and strengthens preventive protection
powers in suspected juvenile abuse cases. It would also create
a mechanism to record and report suspected domestic violence
cases involving minors.
Indigenous People
Panama's indigenous population of approximately 194,000 (8
percent of the population) theoretically has all the same
political rights as other citizens. The Constitution protects
the ethnic identity and native languages of indigenous people,
requiring the Government to provide bilingual literacy programs
in indigenous communities. The Ministry of Government and
Justice maintains a Directorate of Indigenous Policy. The
Legislative Assembly in November created an indigenous affairs
commission to address charges that the central Government has
neglected indigenous needs. Despite legal protection and
formal equality, indigenous people generally endured relatively
higher levels of poverty, disease, malnutrition, and illiteracy
than the rest of the population. In practice, language
problems also weaken the formal protections offered by the
law. Since indigenous populations infrequently master Spanish
well enough to use appropriate legal terminology, they often
have difficulty in understanding their rights under the Legal
Code. This language barrier also hamstrings efforts by
indigenous people to defend themselves in court.
Panama's indigenous population, particularly the Embera, Choco,
and Ngobe-Bugle, has grown increasingly vocal in requesting the
Government to create more indigenous reserves. Indigenous
people began to organize themselves but, despite a November
1993 convention for national coordination of indigenous
peoples, met only limited success in lobbying the Government to
protect their rights. The Government did grant the Embera
tribes in Darien semiautonomous reserve status. The President
appoints a governor who administers two nearby administrative
areas in conjunction with tribal advisory councils. Medical
care and potable water supplies on the reserves remain
inadequate. Ngobe-Bugle groups complained that private
landholders restricted access to tribal lands. The Government
supported the landholders' claims that legal leases were still
in effect.
Indigenous people have legal rights and take part in decisions
affecting their lands, cultures, traditions, and the allocation
of natural resources. During the 1994 presidential elections,
the Coordinator for Indigenous Peoples--an umbrella
organization promoting indigenous rights--called upon
indigenous peoples not to vote for any presidential candidates
until the Government met demands for a Ngobe-Bugle reserve and
development funds for indigenous organizations. Ultimately,
however, few refrained from voting. The new Family Code
recognizes traditional indigenous cultural marriage rites as
the equivalent of a civil ceremony.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The law does not discriminate against any social, religious, or
cultural group; however, naturalized citizens may not hold
certain categories of elective office. While anecdotal
evidence indicates that a constitutional provision reserving
retail trade to Panamanian citizens originally was directed at
Chinese immigrants, government officials have stated that it
serves as a barrier to keep foreign retail chains from
operating in Panama. The measure is not enforced in practice,
however. Chinese and Indian residents of Panama, as well as
Panamanians of Chinese and Indian descent, operate much of the
retail trade, particularly in urban areas.
Leaders of the over 100,000-member East Asian and South Asian
communities credibly claimed that Panamanian society at large
treats Panamanian-resident Chinese and Indians as well as
Panamanian citizens of Asian origin as second-class citizens.
People with Disabilities
Government policy and support for citizens with disabilities is
the responsibility of the Workers with Disabilities Office of
the Department of Labor and Social Welfare. Created in 1980,
it is responsible for placing qualified disabled workers with
employers. The office was in charge of implementing a June
1993 executive order which provided employers with tax
incentives for hiring people with disabilities. As of
September, 89 employers had hired a total of only 166 disabled
employees under this program. Although some public buildings
and retail stores have access ramps for disabled people, no law
or regulation compels the use of ramps or other easy-access
features in public or private buildings.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Private sector workers have the right to form and join unions
of their choice, subject to registration by the Government.
However, unions have criticized government requirements for
registration, including the minimum number of workers necessary
for union formation (currently 51). With a large percentage of
small shops and businesses having fewer than the required
number of employees to meet registration requirements, many in
the work force cannot organize. In addition, organized labor
has complained that the Government has rejected efforts over
the past 20 years to organize in several "strategic sectors"
such as banking and the Colon Free Zone.
According to Ministry of Labor statistics, approximately 10
percent of the total employed labor force is organized. There
are 256 active unions, grouped under 6 confederations and 48
federations representing approximately 79,000 members in the
private sector. Although the new Perez Balladares Government
has closer ties with organized labor than did the Endara
administration, neither the Government nor the political
parties control or financially support any unions. Union
organizations at every level may and do affiliate with
international bodies.
The new Civil Service Law of June 20 permits most government
workers to form public employee associations and federations
and established their right to represent members in collective
bargaining with their respective agencies. It also provides
most workers the right to strike, except for certain government
workers in areas vital to public welfare and security, such as
the police and health workers and those employed by the U.S.
military forces and the Panama Canal Commission. It is too
early to determine if the new Civil Service Law will meet, in
practice, internationally recognized labor standards.
Unionized employees of formerly private and telephone companies
retain their original right to strike when certain reasonable
criteria are met.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee on Freedom
of Association (CFA) reiterated in November 1993 its conclusion
that the large-scale dismissal of trade union leaders and
workers in the public sector under Law 25 of 1990 was a serious
violation of the right to organize. Even though the Panamanian
Supreme Court ruled that the dismissal of 120 of the 145
affected workers was legal (the other 25 were reinstated), the
CFA again requested the Government to reinstate the greatest
possible number of dismissed workers and union leaders. The
new Perez Balladares Government began reinstating the workers,
roughly half of whom have reportedly returned to work.
There were a number of private sector strikes in 1994 and,
despite the prohibition on striking by public sector employees,
several public sector strikes.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The law affords most workers the right to organize and bargain
collectively, and unions widely exercised it--104 collective
bargaining agreements were concluded in 1993. The law protects
union workers from antiunion discrimination and requires
employers to reinstate workers fired for union activities. The
Ministry of Labor has mechanisms to resolve complaints against
antiunion employers. The new Civil Service Law allows most
public employees to organize and bargain collectively and
grants them a limited right to strike. The Labor Code
establishes a conciliation board in the Ministry of Labor to
resolve labor complaints and provides a mechanism for
arbitration once conciliation procedures have been terminated.
There is an increasingly common practice of employing temporary
workers in order to circumvent what are perceived by employers
as onerous Labor Code requirements for permanent workers. One
owner of a construction firm has noted that up to 35 percent of
workers on some of his projects are employed on temporary
contracts. These workers were discharged just short of the
time necessary for them to be granted permanent status and then
rehired in other job categories, thereby circumventing the
Labor Code. None of these temporary workers received pension
or other benefits. The practice of blank contracts is,
according to union sources, becoming more widespread.
Labor law is equally applicable to export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Labor Code prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and
neither practice was reported.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Labor Code prohibits the employment of children under 14
years of age as well as those under 15 if the child has not
completed primary school; children under 16 cannot work
overtime; those under 18 cannot perform night work. Children
between the ages of 12 and 15 may perform farm or domestic
labor as long as the work is light and does not interfere with
the child's schooling. The Ministry of Labor enforces these
provisions in response to complaints and may order the
termination of unauthorized employment. The Government has not
enforced child labor provisions adequately in the rural
interior of the country, claiming insufficient staff to monitor
abuses. Accord to a recent ILO report, 11,600 children between
the ages of 10 and 14 are in the labor force--primarily in farm
or domestic labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Labor Code establishes a standard workweek of 48 hours and
provides for at least one 24-hour rest period. It also
establishes minimum wage rates for specific regions and for
most categories of labor. The minimum wage, last increased in
January 1993, is $0.94 per hour in the districts of Panama,
Colon, and San Miguelito, and for workers in financial
services. It is not enough to support a family above the
poverty level in Panama's relatively high-cost economy. Most
Panamanian workers employed in urban areas earn the minimum
wage or above, but most workers in the large informal sector
earn below the minimum wage. Unions have repeatedly alleged
that contractors operating in the Canal area pay less than the
required minimum wage. The Ministry of Labor does not always
enforce the minimum wage, due to insufficient human and
financial resources.
The Government sets and enforces occupational health and safety
standards. An occupational health section in the Social
Security System is responsible for conducting periodic
inspections of especially hazardous employment sites, such as
those in the construction industry, as well as inspecting
health and safety standards in response to union or worker
requests. The law protects workers who file requests for
health and safety inspections from dismissal. They also have
the right to remove themselves from situations that present an
immediate health or safety hazard without jeopardizing their
employment. They are generally not allowed to do so if the
threat is not immediate but may request a health and safety
inspection to determine the extent and nature of the hazard.
The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing health and
safety violations and generally does so. The standards are
fairly encompassing and generally emphasize safety over
long-term health hazards, according to organized labor
sources. Health issues, however, continue in the banana sector
as well as the cement and milling industries.
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