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Panama

Stop Human Rights and Environmental Abuses in Panama

Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal
Presidente de la Republica
Presidencia de la Republica
Panama 1,
Republica de Panama
Fax +(507) 527-9034
Email: prensa@presidencia.gob.pa

Dear Sr. Presidente,

As an advocate for human rights and environmental protection in my own country and around the world, I am pleased and relieved that the Panama government has revoked Law 30 and negotiated new laws through a process of dialogue following the July protests. These actions are exemplary, and they encourage me to request that you take further steps to redress the grievances of Panama's Indigenous Peoples.

Specifically, I urge you to revoke Law No. 14, which criminalizes non-violent acts of protest, and Executive Decree No. 537, which restricts the right of Indigenous Peoples to choose their own leaders. The executive decree violates the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which (to your credit) Panama has endorsed. The Ngobe people expressed their disapproval of the executive decree by refusing to vote in the government-sponsored election of Ngobe representatives on Oct. 24. Human Rights Everywhere reported serious human rights violations in the conduct of the government-imposed election. I am very concerned that the Panama government would appear to intervene in the selection of Ngobe leaders who will make decisions about mining, dams, tourist resorts, and other development projects that will have enormous impacts on the Ngobe people and their lands. To restore confidence, Executive Decree No. 537 must be revoked.

Thank you for taking appropriate actions to address these concerns.

Sincerely,

Campaign Update – Panama: Panama Government and Ngöbe Agree to Dialogue

Date: 02/08/2012

Sincere thanks to everyone who sent urgent email messages to Panama’s president this week!

Late Tuesday afternoon, Ngöbe leaders and government officials reached an agreement that put an end to protests that left two people dead and dozens of others injured.

Campaign Update - Panama: Ngöbe Resume Protests Against Mining Law

Date: 11/10/2011

The Ngöbe-Buglé Indigenous people took to the streets once more during the week of October 24th as a result of President Martinelli's failure to take their demands into account regarding changes to the country's mining code. Last February and March, the Ngöbe-Buglé successfully negotiated a reversal of a proposed mining law that would have facilitated open-pit mining by foreign companies in their territories.

Campaign Update – Panama: Ngöbe Demand Retroactive Application of New Anti-mining Laws

Date: 09/02/2011

The Ngöbe (also spelled Ngabe-Bukle) people of Panama held a series of peaceful demonstrations in Chiriqui,Veraguas, in the autonomous Indigenous region of the Ngöbe in Panama on September 1st to protest the hydroelectric project known as CHAN-75 on the Changuinola River as well as others planned within Ngobe territory.

Campaign Update – Panama: Government Cancels AES’s Permit to Build Second Dam

Date: 06/20/2011

The Ngöbe Indigenous People, environmentalists, and human rights advocates in Panama are celebrating a decision by Panama’s National Public Service Authority (ASEP) that will prevent US-based AES Corporation from building a second dam on the Changuinola River.

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