The representative of the Movement for the Defense of Children and Adolescents, Rebeca Yanis, demanded that the Attorney General in charge, Javier Caraballo, resign from his post if he is unable to advance in the pertinent investigations.
The participants in the protest gave the institution a note in which they indicate that of 28 processes, only five people have been convicted, but in a low profile, while others went unpunished.
“Panamanian society demands that the complaints filed on this issue be investigated and that the ultimate consequences be reached,” Yanis remarked in statements to the press.
Last December, the Ombudsman of Panama, Eduardo Leblanc, explained to Prensa Latina that they also demanded sanctions for those responsible for abuses in shelters for minors at social risk, an investigation that continues.
Then, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Ombudsman recalled that they asked the Public Ministry and the Judicial Branch that the investigations into the abuse committed against these children fulfill their mission and punish those who perpetrated them.
In February 2021, a subcommittee of the National Assembly presented a report on sexual abuse and physical and psychological abuse committed since 2015 against dozens of minors, in at least 14 shelters under the supervision of the Secretariat for Child and Childhood Care.
The scandal shocked the country and provoked continuous protests to demand punishment against those responsible, in charge of protecting children from socially vulnerable homes or in situations of extreme poverty.
As a result of the incident, the United Nations Children’s Fund asked the Panamanian government not to further delay a law that guarantees the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents.
Last Tuesday, the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, enacted legislation that offers, as he asserted, greater guarantees and comprehensive protection to this sector of the population, a measure demanded by society.
According to the executive decree, a system is created with public policies that establish parameters for the emotional, physical, mental and social care of minors.
It also indicates the reorganization of the competent institutions to guarantee, according to their age and maturity, the full, effective and permanent exercise and enjoyment of the rights of children.
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