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Panama Panama: Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 From the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers Article 305 of the 1978 Constitution states that "All Panamanians are required to take arms to defend national independence and territorial integrity of the state." However, the armed forces were dissolved in 1994 and conscription does not exist. National legislation prohibits the recruitment of persons less than 18 years old, either compulsorily or voluntarily. June 12, 2001 Panama: Landmine Monitor Report 2000 Panama signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, and deposited its instrument of ratification with the UN on 7 October 1998. The ratification legislation literally adopts the treaty but cannot be considered to be full implementation legislation with penalties for violations. Panama has not yet submitted its Article 7 transparency report, due by 27 September 1999, but officials say they are preparing the report.58 Panama voted in favor of the pro-Mine Ban Treaty UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54 B in December 1999, as it did on previous resolutions in 1997 and 1998. It has also supported the pro-ban resolutions of the Organization of American States (OAS). It was one of nine nations to sign the "Declaration of San José" in Costa Rica on 5 April 2000, which has an article promoting the Mine Ban Treaty. August 1, 2000 Human Rights in Post-Invasion Panama Justice Delayed is Justice Denied The ouster of General Manuel Noriega in December 1989 and the installation of the democratically-elected coalition government of President Guillermo Endara brought high hopes in Panama that a long period of disrespect for law and the civil rights of the Panamanian people had come to an end. More than a year later, those hopes have been displaced by widespread belief that the government has performed miserably in addressing the country's most pressing human rights problems, and is incapable of administering its judicial system either fairly or efficiently. Indeed, despite continuing material hardship and the absence of any significant improvement in the economic fortunes of most Panamanians, opinion polls attribute the government's precipitous fall in popularity over the past year most of all to the public's perception that its government has failed to provide one commodity as essential as any other: justice. HRW Index No.: B304 April 7, 1991
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