Panama Declares Amnesty for Protesters

President Eric A. Delvalle announced an amnesty Tuesday for demonstrators arrested during anti-government street protests in Panama last week.

Opposition leaders confirmed that detained demonstrators were being freed from Panama City’s Modelo prison. However, they noted that the government has not officially announced the number of demonstrators who were arrested. Opposition leaders have estimated anywhere from 300 to 600.

“We understand that some prisoners are leaving jail. However, we worry that because the government has not given accurate figures, not all will be set free,” said Rolando de la Guardia of the opposition National Civic Crusade.

The Crusade, which comprises more than 100 civic and business organizations, has spearheaded more than a month of demonstrations against the military strongman, Gen. Manuel A. Noriega. As head of the Panama Defense Forces, he is considered the power behind the civilian government.

Earlier in the day, relatives of detained demonstrators complained that judges at Modelo prison were sentencing prisoners to up to a year in prison without holding trials and without providing defense lawyers. The Crusade collected statements from about 275 of the relatives.

In interviews conducted separately by reporters, a dozen relatives who had come to the Crusade office at the Panama Chamber of Commerce gave nearly identical accounts of the sentencings. They said judges at the court adjacent to Modelo prison handed out prison terms ranging from 30 days to a year without holding trials or permitting representation by lawyers.

A spokesman for the Panama Defense Forces said the accusations were false. “These people are the guilty, and of course they are going to say they were abused,” Maj. Edgardo Lopez said. “The trials were held at night, which is nothing abnormal, and they were held openly, not in some back bathroom somewhere.”

He said the demonstrators were arrested for throwing rocks at soldiers.

The uproar among the prisoners’ relatives reflects not only their personal dismay but also the feeling among many Panamanians that events are getting out of control.

“We are not accustomed to this kind of conflict,” said Escolastico Calvo, who manages government-owned newspapers in the capital. “People are amazed that it is going on.”

Observed a Western diplomat, “The arrests and violence are nothing compared to El Salvador or Guatemala, but for Panamanians they are a shock.”

Relatives who gathered at the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday also complained that those arrested were beaten, robbed and put into cells with hardened criminals.

About half of the 50 relatives gathered at the chamber appeared to be working-class Panamanians, many of them black. Their presence appeared to contradict government assertions that all demonstrations were being carried out by wealthy whites, whom the government derides as “white tails.”

Despite the arrests and sentences, hundreds of crusade supporters took to the sidewalks along Panama City’s main streets Tuesday to wave white handkerchiefs as a show of opposition to Noriega.

A rally planned for Thursday in Panama City has been postponed, however. Crusade leaders said they were acting at the request of Roman Catholic Church authorities, who said the rally would conflict with a religious holiday.

When marchers from various parts of the city tried to congregate last Friday for a similar rally, the Defense Forces drove them off with tear gas, clubs and shotguns.