32 f. Statement of Luis Antonio Batista-Juárez, a staff member of the Water Resources and Electric Power Institute (IRHE) from September 1972 to December 1990 He worked as general electrician in the high and low tension services as supervisor of such services, dispatcher, and Area Superintendent for Services and Maintenance of Electric Power Distribution Networks; the last position he held was that of Head of Electric Distribution for the country’s electric areas and networks. In September 1988 he was dismissed together with a group of workmates; they were accused of abandoning the job as a result of a situation of convocation to a work stoppage, which was repressed by the Defence Forces of general Noriega’s regime. President Guillermo Endara-Galimany reinstated him into his position in January 1990. He was assigned the position of Head of Electric Distribution of the Regional Management for the Province of Colón. The IRHE assigned him the task of performing actions intended to provide continuous 24-hour service. He was appointed “Hierarchical Chief,” with the responsibility to co-ordinate all actions intended to maintain the service, and see to it that they were carried out. He was in knowledge of the activities that the Co-ordinating Organisation of State Enterprise Workers Unions was promoting, and took part in the march concerning the petition, and in the movement that was started upon the rejection of such petition. He saw the petition and gave his support to it. The petition consisted of 13 items which included the following: non-privatisation of state enterprises; respect for labour laws, internal by-laws, and those agreements made with the state enterprise organisations; payment of the thirteenth bonus month and other bonuses; respect for labour union organisations and derogation of both, the laws that changed the Labour Code, and the laws that were intended to change the benefits to members of the Social Security Administration, which meant all the workers; claims of the construction sector, problems of National Institute students, and problems of those persons who had been the victims of the war that had been fought in Panama. The marches that he attended were peaceful and very well organised. More than 70.000 persons attended the march of December 4, 1990. The march ended in a peaceful way. He learned about the escape of colonel Herrera-Hassán on December 5, 1990, upon his arrival in his work site in the city of Colón. He did not know colonel Herrera-Hassán. During December 4 and 5 he did not hear about any relationship or ties between the movement of the workers and that of colonel Herrera-Hassán. He did not take part in the December 5 stoppage; he worked all day until the end of his shift. All the workers were present at the work site under his responsibility; there he realised that the conditions that should prevail in the situation of the announced stoppage, namely to ensure the service in the emergency areas, were being complied with. He stayed in the area some two and a half hours; he called his immediate superior to inform him that the service to the citizenry was being guaranteed in the event of any emergency and that everything was normal. At no time were the essential public services affected. As Head of Distribution he did not take part in the preparation of any list of workers who had participated in the work stoppage. He went to his office and at noon he received a call from his immediate superior, the Regional Manager, who asked him to provide the names of all persons who had not worked that day, since the national Executive Director for electric distribution had requested such information. He informed his boss that it was very difficult to gather such information, that the work stoppage had been called off and that “all the workers, practically,” were back on their jobs. The other heads of the company in which he worked prepared the list of the workers who had participated in the stoppage arbitrarily, since there was no real proof to determine whether any worker had worked or not. Massive dismissals of workers started on December 10, 1990, and