opinion

In recent weeks citizens complaints about human rights violations by those in charge of enforcing the law, ever more constant, have proliferated --- especially about agents of the National Police.

Among these complaints, those that have had the most impact among those citizens who worry about what goes on around them are, without any doubt, those presented by persons deprived of liberty or by their legal representatives. Once again, abuses of authority have taken hold of the behavior of those who are called upon to guard and protect the life and honor of this country’s inhabitants. Once again the fundamental bases and principles that must guide the rule of law are trampled, in non-compliance and violation of international human rights norms.

More than 200 years ago, in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man, we were taught that: “Ignorance, forgetfulness or disregard for the Rights of Man are the only causes of public ills and the corruption of governments.”

In Panama there can be no doubt that our social structure, our dignity, is every day more deteriorated, and thus we can not abandon, nor set aside, the necessary actions to make each and every one of our fundamental human rights more effective, and therefore as well we must be demanding with the authorities, so that they protect them and do not violate them.

The efficiency of the institutions and mechanisms that are supposed to make our human rights real from day to day must be a permanent concern. We must not stop denouncing authorities who violate human rights, nor can we stop supporting those authorities who protect them and make it their concern that they are observed.

What’s going on in the country’s jails should fill us with shame. The attitude of the minister of government and justice and of the National Police director ought to worry us, as it reveals to us an absolute and total disregard for human rights and for the rule of law.

I make a call to all the organizations of our society to redouble our vigilance against the danger that looms over our liberties and our dignity, and that we demand compliance with the basic norms that must rule the conduct of public officials charged with law enforcement, norms that are part of the body of instruments approved by the United Nations as well.

These norms establish that:

1.  All persons have the right to equal protection of the law, without any sort of discrimination, and especially against violence and threats. Potentially vulnerable groups, like children, the elderly, women, refugees, the displaced and members of minority groups merit special attention.

2.  All crime victims must be treated with compassion and respect, and in particular their security and intimacy must be protected.

3.  Force must not be used except where strictly necessary, and in the least degree possible under the circumstances.

4.  The use of force in police actions against assemblies that are illegal but peaceful must be avoided. To disperse violent assemblies the least grade of force possible must be employed.

5.  Lethal means must not be employed if it is not absolutely essential to protect one’s own life or that of other persons.

6.  No arrest must be made without legal basis to do so and without reconciling it with the legal procedures established for it.

7.  It must be guaranteed that all those arrested are permitted to communicate without delay with their relatives and their lawyer, and that they are given all the medical attention they need.

8.  All persons in detention must receive humane treatment. Acts of torture or maltreatment must not be inflicted, instigated or tolerated under any circumstance, and orders to do such must be disobeyed.

9.  Extra-judicial executions or “disappearances” shall not be perpetrated, ordered or covered up, and orders to do such must be disobeyed.

10. Higher ranking officials and prosecutors must be informed of any breach of these basic norms. There have to be assurances that the necessary measures to investigate such breaches will be taken.

Every citizen should make these norms a point of departure in order to give value to his or her dignity.

Respect for, protection of and education about human rights is a situation that demands our study, commitment, work and daily persistence, so that we recognize human values.