Ngöbe people and environmental organizations in Panama are asking us to help.  
 
TAKE ACTION: Please send letters, emails, or faxes to Panamanian authorities. 

• Urge them to revoke Law  No. 14, and Executive Decree No. 537, which eliminate the requirement for Environmental Impact Studies, restrict labor unions’ right to strike, protect police officers from prosecution for crimes committed on the job, restrict the rights of Indigenous Peoples to choose their own leaders, and criminalize protest.  Tell them that these measures violate the human rights of Panamanian citizens and threaten biological diversity in Panama’s world-renowned tropical rainforests.

• Insist that they implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which guarantees the right to free, prior, and informed consent for any project that would affect Indigenous populations and their lands.

• Demand a thorough and independent investigation into police actions during the protests of July 2-11 in Bocas del Toro province, and prosecution of all police officers and supervisors who violated the human rights of citizens.

      Please send your letter to:  
       
      Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal
      Presidencia de la República,
      Panamá 1,
      República de Panamá
      Fax  +(507) 527-9733
      Email: prensa@presidencia.gob.pa
     
Note: For highest impact, mail your letter (US postage is 98 cents).  Faxes and emails will help, too!

A model letter is available here. 
Please personalize the letter if you can.  

      Send copies of your letter to:   

      Juan Carlos Varela
      Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
      Zona postal San Felipe, Calle 3
      Palacio Bolívar, Edificio 26
      Panamá 4, Panamá
      Fax +(507) 511-4003
      Email: jcvarela@mire.gob.pa or mgalindo@mire.gob.pa   

      Jose Salvador Munoz
      Presidente de la Asamblea Nacional
      Plaza 5 de Mayo, Panamá
      Apartado Postal: 0815-01603,
      Panamá, Rep. de Panamá
      Fax: +(507) 512-8104
      Email:  transparencia@asamblea.gob.pa

Note: the U.S. Congress has an opportunity to press Panama to implement human rights and environmental protections by writing this language into a bilateral free trade agreement, soon to be negotiated. So please send a copy of your letter to the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Rep. Sander Levin - Ways and Means Chairman
Longworth House Office Building, Room: 1236
Independence and New Jersey Avenues, S.E.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4961
Fax: (202) 226-1033
Email: visit http://www.house.gov/levin/levin_contact.shtml

This Global Response Action Alert was issued at the request of and with information provided by affected Ngobe Indigenous communities in Panama.