Former guerrilla Thomas J. Bleming, an American citizen and Vietnam veteran who in 1979 participated in an ill-fated insurgency against Panama’s military dictatorship, has lost his lawsuit against Manuel Antonio Noriega in a Wyoming federal district court. Bleming was captured and spent about two years in custody, during which he says he was subjected to torture and abuse at the behest of Manuel Antonio Noriega, then the head of G-2 (military intelligence) in the government headed by General Omar Torrijos.
Both Bleming’s lawsuit and Noriega’s answer were filed in propia persona (that is, without the assistance of lawyers), and based on those pleadings US District Judge Alan B. Johnson granted Noriega’s motion to dismiss the case.
However, the decision didn’t definitively get the former Panamanian strongman, now a long-term resident of the US federal detention center in Miami, off the hook. That’s because Johnson dismissed the case without prejudice, which means that the claim might be refiled in more proper form and after all of these years Bleming could get his day in court. But if that comes to pass, it will likely be a trial without lawyers, as Noriega has no obvious assets from which a judgment might be satisfied and most attorneys won’t take a case when it appears that the defendant is uncollectable.
According to Judge Johnson’s 15-page opinion, “the characters, places, conditions and treatment that Bleming describes would be suitable for a Hollywood movie or Tom Clancy novel.”
“To wit,” the judgment stated, “Bleming describes long periods without food or water, beatings about his head and stomach, threats of death and rape, as well as witnessing the beating and torture of his comrade. Incidents include having his hair torn out by its roots, being beaten with the butt end of a rifle (several times), being threatened with ejection from a plane (while in flight over the Pacific Ocean), having an officer point a .45 caliber pistol at his head while stating an intention to kill Bleming, being lined up with others and told to pray while a group of soldiers loaded their weapons, and enduring solitary confinement for long periods of time. Bleming also describes having to appear before Noriega to, essentially, beg for forgiveness. Bleming further narrates having been forced to give a phoney statement on national TV and radio and extolling the virtues of Torrijos and Noriega. Included in Bleming’s allegation is an unlawful detention ordered by Noriega, after Bleming and his comrade were pardoned by the the-president of Panama [sic], Omar Torrijos.”
The problem was that Bleming pleaded violations of various treaties to which the United States and Panama are both parties, but the judge held that these --- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, the UN Convention Against Torture and others --- are either not self-executing or otherwise do not provide a basis for individuals to assert claims in the courts. But Johnson added that Bleming might possibly have a claim under the US Torture Victims Protection Act, although he pointed out that since that law wasn’t cited in the complaint, the court could not address the issue.
Bleming, who in the years since the ordeal has married a relative of General Torrijos and struck up friendships with veterans of the Panama Defense Forces he once fought against, told The Panama News that he plans to refile his lawsuit, this time alleging a violation of the Torture Victims Protection Act.
Also in this section:
Looking back at 2004
Gómez replaces Sossa, promises cleanup
Special legislative session on taxes, Seguro
Noriega wins in court, but torture victim vows to continue the battle
Panama News Briefs
