La Prensa,
Panama
Manuel Noreiga's Release a 'Headache' for Panama
"If our Foreign
Office has negotiated the extradition of Noriega with the United States and the
French on extraditing him to France, then our Foreign Minister is completely discredited."
By Grettel
Villalaz De Allen*
Translated By Barbara Howe
July 19, 2007
Panama - La Prensa - Original Article (Spanish)
Since the
3rd of January 1990, the date on which he left the Papal Nunciate
in the custody of North American forces to be judged as a prisoner of war, to
September 9th of this year when he'll be set free for good behavior, Manuel
Noriega will have been deprived of his freedom for 6,459 days.
For those
of us who have in our minds having lost many more days after having lost a
family member as a result of the excesses of his dictatorship, or after having
suffered humiliations, rape, torture and all types of beatings at the hands of
the forces in power who guided this nation for 21 years, the possibility that
in just a short time this dictator will be give hi freedom, brings to mind so
many things that time doesn't permit us to list them all.
In the
national and international media, the idea is being sold that Noriega is to be
extradited to France on September 9, 2007, so that he can serve sentences on
money laundering and weapons and narco-trafficking,
which have yet to be imposed because the charges are currently on appeal. If
Noriega is sent to France or any other neutral country, or if he is permitted
to remain in the United States, it would be ignoring the fact that Noriega was
declared a “prisoner of war” in keeping with the [Fourth] Geneva Convention
approved on August 12, 1949, and which clearly states that when a prisoner of
war is liberated, such a person should be immediately repatriated 
.
If our
Foreign Office has negotiated the extradition of Noriega with the United States
and the French on extraditing him to France, then our Foreign Minister is
completely discredited, as he is every time he expresses fatigue on the part of
the authorities over having for months had to negotiate Noriega's
repatriation to Panama, so that he can fulfill the sentence that our legal
system has charged him with; but in addition, it [agreeing to Noriega's extradition to France] would demonstrate that we
lack the sovereignty to make our own decisions and the character to exercise
the responsibility of ensuring that our war prisoners receive proper treatment
under the Geneva Convention.
But on
the other hand, if such an arrangement is not arrived at by the 9th of
September and Noriega should return to Panama, nothing has been done to prepare
for his arrival; because although this gentleman has a number of sentences
standing against him for deaths and humiliations committed against Panamanian
nationals, the existing infrastructure to ensure that he fulfills his numerous
sentences and is deprived of his freedom are insufficiently secure for someone
who was for so long the “strongman of Panama.”
The
arrival in Panama of Manuel A. Noriega, in addition to being in every sense a
danger to the political class, could result in a setback in terms of foreign
investment. This is because it is well known that Noriega was always synonymous
with economic insecurity and the arbitrary management of commercial activity.
For many
reasons, those who have been affected by the crimes committed by friends and
subordinates of the General hope that this government - but also his friends
and family - will not manage to
negotiate leniency or concessions. It’s possible that they have in mind giving
Noriega the option of passing through several hospitals to avoid committing him
to one of the central prison facilities
that were so used at the time that the General ruled our country.
But
whatever the decision happens to be, whether he returns or is expatriated, his
liberation is sure to be a headache.
[Editor's Note: Noriega's
legal status in France is as
follows: In July of 1999, a penal court in Paris condemned Noriega and his wife Felicidad
for conducting financial transactions with funds originating from
drug-trafficking. Noriega and Felicidad
were tried in absentia, sentenced to 10 years in prison each, and ordered to
pay fines of over $30 million. A French tribunal issued arrest warrants for Noriega
and Felicidad; the whereabouts of
Noriega was well-known, of course, but not Felicidad's.
It is rumored that Felicidad
has quietly returned to Panama, and if so, France admits that it will not be able to extradite her because
the Panamanian Constitution prohibits extradition].
*The author is lawyer.
SEE ALSO:
La Prensa,
Panama
France Asks
Washington for
Custody of Manuel
Noriega
http://WORLDMEETS.US/laprensapa000004.shtml
Critica, Panama
In U.S. and Panama, Noriega
is an Electoral 'Hot Potato' …
http://WORLDMEETS.US/critica000008.shtml
Critica, Panama
Manuel Noriega Fights to Keep
U.S.
from Sending Him to
France
http://WORLDMEETS.US/critica000007.shtml
Spanish
Version Below
Noriega: un dolor de cabeza
Grettel Villalaz de Allen
Desde
el 3 de enero de 1990, fecha
en que Manuel Antonio Noriega salió
de la Nunciatura en custodia
de fuerzas norteamericanas para ser enjuiciado como "prisionero de guerra", hasta el 9 de septiembre de este año, cuando será
liberado por buen comportamiento, habrán transcurrido 6 mil 459 días de su privación
de libertad.
Para los que tenemos
en nuestras mentes muchos más días
que esos de haber perdido algún
familiar a consecuencia de los
desmanes de la dictadura, o
de haber sufrido vejaciones, violaciones, torturas o todo tipo de atropellos a manos de las fuerzas
de poder que guiaron a este país por 21 años,
la posibilidad que en poco tiempo se le dé libertad a este
dictador, nos lleva a varias reflexiones, que no limitan a que surjan
en el tiempo otras posibilidades.
En medios nacionales e internacionales, se está vendiendo la idea de que Noriega va a ser extraditado a Francia el 9 de septiembre de
2007, para que cumpla condenas en procesos de lavado de dinero, venta de armas y narcotráfico, los cuales no están
ejecutoriados, pues en la actualidad han sido apelados. Si se enviara a Francia, o a cualquier otro país neutral, o incluso se le permitiese quedarse en Estados Unidos, se estaría desconociendo que Noriega fue declarado "prisionero de guerra", conforme la Convención de Ginebra que fue
aprobada el 12 de agosto de
1949, y la cual señala claramente, que cuando corresponda la liberación de un prisionero de guerra, se debe dar inmediatamente su repatriación.
Si nuestra Cancillería ha negociado con Estados Unidos y los franceses,
la extradición de Noriega a Francia,
nuestro Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores queda desacreditado completamente, toda vez que se ha expresado
hasta el cansancio por parte de nuestras
autoridades que se ha estado gestionando por meses la repatriación
de Noriega a Panamá, para que cumpla con las decisiones que nuestra justicia
ha impartido en los casos donde él
se encontraba imputado; pero además, demostraría
que no tenemos soberanía sobre nuestras decisiones y no se tiene ni el carácter
ni la responsabilidad de hacer que se cumpla
la Convención de Ginebra, relativa al trato que deben recibir
los prisioneros de guerra. Por el otro lado, si
se logra que efectivamente el 9 de septiembre venga Noriega a Panamá, nada se
ha hecho para preparar esta llegada,
pues aunque este señor tiene
varias sentencias dictadas en su contra, a razón de muertes y vejaciones cometidas a nacionales panameños, las infraestructuras existentes para cumplir condenas con privación de libertad no son lo suficientemente seguras para una persona que fue por
mucho tiempo el "hombre fuerte
de Panamá".
La llegada a Panamá de Manuel A.
Noriega, además de ser un peligro
para la clase política en todos los sentidos, puede
causar un descalabro en materia de inversión extranjera, pues para todos era conocido que Noriega siempre fue sinónimo
de inseguridades económicas
y manejo arbitrario de las actividades comerciales. Los afectados
por los delitos
cometidos por amigos y subalternos del General, esperan muchas cosas que este
gobierno no va a poder cumplir, pero también sus
amigos, familiares y conocidos
tratarán de gestionar otras. Es posible que
se tenga en mente darle la opción a Noriega de pasearse por varios
hospitales para no internarlo en uno de los centros carcelarios
que tanto se utilizó en la época que era General en nuestro país, pero sea la decisión que sea, su llegada o su
expatriación, será un dolor
de cabeza tras su liberación.
La autora
es abogada
