provided according to the needs and with the consent of the beneficiaries. The Court
recalls its observations in the previous Order, namely that the psychological treatment
provided by the State must take into account the particular circumstances and needs
of each person, so that they can be provided with collective, family or individual
treatment, as agreed with each person and following individual assessment.10 To that
end, the Court reiterates that the State authorities must continue to secure the
cooperation and consent of the beneficiaries.11
17.
Consequently, the Court deems it necessary that the State submit organized,
complete and up-to-date information regarding the measures adopted to comply with
this operative paragraph of the Judgment in favor of Graciela De León, Patria Portugal
and Franklin Portugal. Furthermore, as mentioned previously, the State should include
information regarding the feasibility of following the recommendation of the Pan
American Health Organization, so that “the people who have suffered different types of
violence [could] be treated within the framework of the mental health system […] [of
Panama].”
3. Obligation to define the offenses of forced disappearance of persons
and torture (Operative Paragraph 16 of the Judgment)
18.
The State reported that the crimes of forced disappearance of persons and
torture were defined in Law No. 1 of January 13, 2011, published in the Official
Gazette No. 26702-A, which “modified and added articles to the Criminal Code of the
Republic of Panama in relation to the offenses of Forced Disappearance of Persons and
Torture.” The State attached a copy of the aforementioned law.
19.
The representatives noted that “the text of the approved law does not stipulate
that in cases of forced disappearance the criminal proceedings, or the penalty, are not
subject to the statute of limitations [, nor] does it recognize the continuous or
permanent nature of the offense of forced disappearance.” They stated that the
omission of this aspect of the offense could have consequences for the application of
the criminal definition to behaviors that started before the legal definition of the
offense and continued thereafter. Similarly, with regard to the definition of torture, the
representatives indicated that the new text overcomes the limitations of the previous
wording, which only defined the behavior of public servants. However, they
emphasized the provisions of Article 3 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent
and Punish Torture, considering it important that the norm in question clearly define
the persons who may be considered as perpetrators of this offense.
20.
The Commission noted that the new text adopted on forced disappearance is, in
principle, compatible with four of the five elements considered essential with regard to
the State’s international obligations and indicated as such in the Judgment, namely: a)
irrelevance of the way in which forced disappearance is perpetrated; b) deprivation of
liberty and failure to provide information in that regard; c) refusal to acknowledge the
deprivation of liberty; and d) proportionality of the punishment in relation to the
gravity of the crime. However, the Commission indicated that this norm does not
establish the continuity or permanence of the offense or the fact that it is not subject
10
Cf. Case of Heliodoro Portugal v. Panama, supra note 5, considering paragraph 30.
11
Cf. Case of Heliodoro Portugal v. Panama, supra note 5, considering paragraph 30.
6