Prisons in Panama: "Medieval" and "Degrading," Spring-Summer 1996

Prisons in Panama: "Medieval" and "Degrading"

Four out of five prisoners in Panamanian jails are "innocent," according to the country's national prison director, Enrique Mon Pinz-n. Mon lamented the overcrowding of 7,200 inmates into prisons designed for 4,500 people, and said the prison population is projected to double by the year 2000.

A Panamanian who is arrested first faces prolonged detention before she or he even sees a judge. Even after seeing a judge, the average jail time spent before a trial in Panama is fourteen months. The U.S. State Department graphically described the conditions in which inmates pass these months in its annual human rights report in March, which we reprint in part below. And if the prisoner ever gets a trial, chances for a fair one can't be helped much by public defenders wiho have hundreds of cases.

Overcrowding lead to prison riots as recently as May 15, in the Colón Public Prison that houses 1,450 prisoners in a building originally built for 350. Government riot squads put down the uprising using rubber bullets and teargas and wounding eight inmates. The teargas drifted into two nearby grade schools, whose children were evacuated with their eyes burning. For his part, Panamanian Interior Minister Raœl Montenegro blamed a January riot in the women's prison on "international drug mafias" who "motivate the uprisings."

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment

Prison conditions throughout the country remain deplorable and a threat to prisoners' health. Most prisons were built in the 1950's or before and are dilapidated; medical care is inadequate; and escape attempts are frequent. There were credible reports of corruption and abuse of prisoners by guards....

In April the prison system conducted its first prison census since the 1930's. In Modelo prison alone the Government discovered it was detaining or holding as sentenced prisoners 135 more inmates than its records had indicated. The Government admitted that it did not know the corresponding judicial status of its inmates and detainees. The census also revealed that because of nonexistent internal controls, as many as 10 inmates had hired other inmates approaching release to assume their identities and complete their remaining sentences.

The census revealed that Modelo and Colon Prisons had prison populations more than three times their designed capacities. Conditions in Modelo are reportedly so overcrowded that prisoners have to sling their hammocks up in the bathrooms, and in the main gallery hammocks are stacked five high. Panama's bishops issued a communique recommending the closing of Modelo prison which they termed "medieval" and recommended expediting the trial process....

New legislation aimed at relieving overcrowding by speeding the pace of prosecution went into effect on July 1, but at year's end resulted in no appreciable improvement in either case processing or prison overcrowding...

Conditions on Coiba Island Penal Colony continued to be deplorable. Approximately 70 percent of the 277 prisoners await trial, and from all accounts the majority will have served almost two-thirds of their potential sentences before reaching trial. Prisoners and detainees reportedly suffer greatly from malnutrition and shortages of potable water, and medical care is practically nonexistent... Geographic isolation, plus lack of communications, has separated detainees from their attorneys and caused many to miss trials...

Conditions at women's prisons were somewhat better... Still, there were credible allegations that guards and staff at the Women's Rehabilitation Center (CFR) sexually abused female detainees and convicts... The Government took no action to investigate these allegations...

Arbitrary Arrest and Detention

...The law prohibits police from detaining suspects for more than 24 hours without bringing them before a competent authority. In practice, the authorities often violated the 24-hour time limit by several days. The preliminary investigation phase often lasts from 2 to 4 months... 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 incommunicado in detention...

Extended pretrial detention continued to be one of Panama's most serious human rights problems... According to government statistics, pretrial detainees composed approximately 78 percent of the prison population. 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...

Denial of Fair Public Trial

The Constitution obliges the Government to provide public defenders for the indigent... Public defenders' caseloads remained staggering, numbering hundreds of cases per attorney and seriously undermining the quality of representation...

Arbitrary Interference with Privacy

...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 the police failed to follow legal requirements for arrest and search warrants and instead conducted indiscriminate searches of entire apartment buildings or housing complexes. Police involvement in crime rings also blurred distinctions between improper searches and attempted theft.

Sources: La Prensa 4/21, 5/16/96; El Panamá América 1/13/96; U.S. State Dept. Human Rights Country Reports, 1995.