Despite the fact that the Public Ministry is the entity in charge of following up on cases of disappearances, the Ombudsman, Eduardo Leblanc, stated that the Ombudsman will follow up on aspects related to human rights involving potentially affected parties and third parties, in addition to that will verify how the State is acting in these cases.
“We are going to verify the whereabouts of people because we have to safeguard people’s lives, the actions of the Panamanian State in response to the 2006 Convention on forced disappearances and we are going to work for the relatives of these people who are not located” Leblanc said
It also warns that these cases must be handled with caution, and asks the relatives of the victims to provide information if they appear.
“Relatives air the cases on the networks, it’s good, but the information must be handled with care. If your relative appears, make the news that he appeared, because it creates false positives,” said the defender.
On the other hand, the deputy defender, Clarissa Martínez, reported that the figure that the Public Ministry is handling so far is 46 disappearances, but that this number could vary.
And, indeed, the last case of the two women declared missing in their own apartment, reached a heartbreaking outcome. One of the women appeared in a Police Zone of La Chorrera confessing to having ended the life of her partner.
Regarding the disappearances in Chiriquí, the deputy defender declared that they maintain a balance of 7 cases between 2020 and 2021.
“We have figures that from 2019 they have 4 missing women; from 2021, 3, giving the total sum of 7. We have this through a report generated by the Chiriquí regional office,” he emphasized.
It adds that an investigation has been opened into the disappearances of men, respectively.
In the last week, the National Police has reported that several of the people reported missing are being found at the homes of relatives or friends, thus ruling out the existence of a criminal network behind these events.
Writing by Nancy Pretto
