Conditions in juvenile detention center listed as “inhuman”

Panama’s Citizens' Assembly representing 28 organizations has condemned as “inhuman” the condition in the juvenile detention center where five inmates received fatal burns.

In a statement issued Thursday, January 27 the association detailed punishment cells designed for one person but holding three; no rights to a bath every day; no hours in the exercise yard for 18 days,  and untreated health problems.

The association has demanded that the Minister of Government, Roxana Mendez, "take action on the matter and to exercise its mandate to protect the lives and fundamental rights of persons deprived of liberty."

International agencies in Panama were called upon for immediate intervention and monitoring to ensure the human rights of detainees," the statement said.

On January a fire in the Juvenile Enforcement Center ,Tocumen left  seven young people with third degree burns. Five of them have died, while the other two are still in the Santo Tomas hospital.