Rystende bruk av varetekt

I Panama kan man tenke seg saker hvor en uskyldig kastes i fengsel, holdes i flere år i varetekt sammen med narkolangere og mordere, og ikke slippes ut selv om den øvre strafferammen for det han er anklaget for overskrides mens han sitter i varetekt.

US Departement of States landsrapport om menneskerettigheter i Panama - 2005, offentliggjort 8. mars 2006, sier følgende:

”Extended pretrial detention continued to be one of the most serious human rights problems, due in part to the elaborate notification phase in criminal cases. According to government statistics, 7,300 prisoners, or approximately 63 percent of the prison population, were pretrial detainees. The average period of pretrial custody was 24 months, and pretrial detention in excess of the maximum sentence for the alleged crime was common.”

”Prison conditions remained harsh and, in some cases, life-threatening. By December the prison system, which had an official capacity of 7,213 persons, held 11,748 prisoners. Most prisons remained dilapidated and overcrowded. Many of the problems within the prisons continued to be due to lack of separation of inmates according to the type or severity of the crime committed.”

Rystende, men trolig ikke unikt i verdens fattigere land.