US State Departmant Pens Negative Report On Panama
The US State Department has issued a very negative report about Panama’s judicial and prison system. Anyone who reads or watches the news in Panama will realize this report comes as no surprise.
The report was issued Wednesday and highlights the 70 murders and 40 missing persons cases that occurred during the military dictatorship. The report also mentions 20 people being thrown to their deaths from helicopters in the Darien jungle. The report also contains information about the ongoing murder investigation involving Panama’s former Justice Minister Daniel Delgado Diamante, that took place back in 1970.
The report indicates that although the government generally respects the human rights of the citizens, serious problems remain. The problems that were mentions are: harsh prison conditions and abuse by prison guards; prolonged pretrial detention; corruption; ineffectiveness, and political manipulation of the judicial system; political pressure on the media; discrimination and violence against women; human trafficking; discrimination against Panama’s indigenous communities; and child labour.
The State Department’s annual report covers 200 countries and is aimed at preventing US government aid from being delivered to countries guilty of human rights abuses.
| Written by Rebecca Tyre |  |
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Filed under: Culture, History, News on February 26th, 2009
Attorney Richard Lehman Sues Panama for Human Rights Abuses in $50 Million Food Aid Case
Richard Lehman, a Florida attorney who was falsely charged with murder and over a dozen other crimes in Panama for his efforts to defend a $50 million food aid donation, recently filed a human rights lawsuit against the country with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Organization of American States). “Panama continues to foster an atmosphere of corruption in the legal system which has caused it to be in violation of several human rights treaties,” said Lehman, a tax attorney and executor of the estate of Wilson Lucom, an American expatriate who died in Panama in 2006. “Not only have my human rights been violated, but the largest private donation ever made in Panama’s history is now at risk of vanishing completely.” Lehman has spent the last two and a half years – and over $2 million of his own money – defending Lucom’s legally sanctioned will in Panama, which gave a $50 million donation to prevent childhood malnutrition. Since 2006, this money has been blocked by an influential family (which produced two former presidents), and corrupt government actions. As executor of the estate, Lehman has been the target of numerous illegal actions because he is the last remaining obstacle to the family’s claim on the entire Lucom fortune. These include:
* Falsely arrested without charges on Feb. 6, 2009 and held under armed guard for 15 hours in an airport police detention center. (This arrest ignored the Panama Supreme Court’s weeks-old ruling that cleared Lehman of all charges in the case.)
* Falsely charged with murder, extortion and 12 other crimes.
* Five illegal arrest warrants issued against him.
* Illegally listed on Interpol’s “Red Notice Alert” using expired legal documents issued from a private law firm.
* Blocked from re-entering Panama to defend the case for over a year and a half.
A new national charity (Fundacion de Apoyo a Los Ninos Pobres de Panama) has been established to distribute Lucom’s donation – if it is released by the courts. The money is badly needed in Panama. According to UNICEF, it’s one of two Central American countries to experience a rise in childhood malnutrition. One in five children is affected, and hundreds die each year.