6
representatives concluded that “the State of Panama has not taken steps to
ensure that this measure is implemented appropriately”; but rather, it is
implemented “as a series of fragmented activities that are carried out at the
request of the beneficiaries, without any initial diagnosis having been made
accompanied by a treatment plan.”
24.
For its part, the Commission indicated that Panama “has not adopted
sufficient measures to comply with this obligation,” in particular “the lack of
specialized psychological care,” “the absence of a diagnosis” of the needs for
medical attention, and the “failure to decide on the place to provide the health
care service to Graciela De León Rodríguez.”
25.
The President finds that the Court requires more information on the
medical and psychological care that is being provided and, in particular on the
way in which it has been implemented, inasmuch as it is intended as a reparation
for the human rights violations attributed to the State.
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26.
Regarding the obligation to define the offenses of forced disappearance of
persons and torture (sixteenth operative paragraph of the judgment), the State
indicated that the Ministry of the Interior and Justice had forwarded to the
National Assembly a “bill [...] amending and adding articles to the Penal Code in
relation to the offenses of forced disappearance and torture.”
27.
The representatives observed that the wording proponed in the bill “does
not resolve all the problems indicated by the Court in its judgment, regarding
both the offense of forced disappearance and the offense of torture, and in the
case of the latter, the divergence from the international formulas is even more
evident and of greater concern.”
28.
The Commission indicated that it “should only be considered that this
operative paragraph has been complied with when the law is approved by means
of the constitutional procedures in force, and provided that the problems noted by
the Court in its judgment have been overcome.” In addition, the Commission
stated that “the wording of the bill could resolve four problems with the actual
definition of forced disappearance as an offense that were identified in the
judgment; namely, the application only to “unlawful detentions,” “the disjunction
between the elements of detention and the refusal to provide information on the
whereabouts of the victim,” “the failure to include acknowledgement of the
victim’s detention,” and “the failure to establish the continuing or permanent
nature of the offense.” Nevertheless, the Commission “remains concerned about
the proportionality of the punishment in relation to the gravity of the offense.”
Furthermore, regarding the offense of torture, the Commission indicated that “the
text of the bill does not establish clearly the elements that constitute the offense
of torture and continues to limit its application only to persons who are detained.”
29.
The President finds it necessary to have more information on the actual
status of the legislative processing of the bill presented by the Government. In
addition, he finds it necessary to have information on the amendments that may
have been made in relation to the initial proposal in order to adapt it fully to the
considerations set out by the Court in its judgment.
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