Security Minister must answer to the country for police action
What the papers say
La Prensa July 15
With an irresponsibility that is unprecedented in democratic Panama, the national government waged war against its citizens.
As if two deaths were not enough of a tragedy, hospitals treated an unprecedented number, never before witnessed, of victims who have lost the sight of one eye or who will suffer blindness for life.
The Minister who heads the National Police and Public Security Ministry has to answer to the country for what has been a clear shift of existing guidelines on the use of force in cases of public disorder.
Who is responsible for such an order? Who ordered the agents to shoot in the faces of demonstrators? Is this why the executive wanted to amend the laws to protect law enforcement officers guilty of such abuses? We demand a thorough investigation of what happened, so as to avoid a repetition. Every day that goes by the Panamanians try to understand what is happening in our country, where peace and prosperity has turned into a whirlpool of violence.How long do we have to wait?
