NCJ Number
138223
Date Published
1992
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This U.S. General Accounting Office study determined the status and evaluated the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to help Panama develop professional police forces, create an independent judiciary, and improve prison conditions following the U.S. military intervention in December 1989.
Abstract
Although there has been progress, several problems remain. Police pay and benefits are poor, and morale is low. Public opinion polls have indicated that public confidence in the police is weak, and the turnover in police leadership has been disruptive. Politicization of the police forces also remains a concern. Although there has been legislation and administrative reforms intended to improve the judicial system, problems remain. The court system is clogged with a backlog of cases; suspects are detained for long periods awaiting trial; prosecutorial authorities weaken the legal guarantees of defendants; suspects do not receive adequate legal representation; and administrative courts that operate outside the judicial system threaten due process and protection of the rights of the accused. The Panamanian government has just begun to address the problems of the corrections system. Prisons are overcrowded and unsanitary; various categories of inmates are housed together and are guarded by untrained personnel; case files are often lost, and inmates cannot always be produced for court appearances. This report recommends that before the United States makes any additional financial commitment to the Panamanian criminal justice system, the Secretary of State should direct the U.S. Ambassador to Panama to obtain from the Panamanian government a demonstration of its resolve and capability to provide resources adequate to enable the program to succeed. Appended comments from the State Department, the Justice Department, and the Agency for International Development