VZCZCXYZ0010
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHZP #1370/01 2271753
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151753Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY PANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0979
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS PANAMA 001370 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR STATE WHA/CEN-TELLO 
FOR DEPT. LABOR DOL/ILAB-ESQUIBEL 
FOR STATE DRL/ILCSR-RIGGS 
FOR STATE WHA/PPC-PUCCETTI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECIN ECON ELAB ETRD PM
SUBJECT: RESPONSE: EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION SECTION FOR 
MANDATORY US-PANAMA TPA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
 
REF: STATE 91512 
 
This cable responds to reftel.  Answers are numbered to match 
reftel paragraph number. 
 
1.(U) LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR LABOR RIGHTS 
 
Para 7. Key labor legislation and key legal instruments that 
prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, 
color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, 
and social origin: 
 
  -- Law No. 4 of 29 January 1999: Establishing equality of 
opportunity for women. www asamblea gob 
pa/NORMAS/1990/1999/1999 176 1226.PDF 
 
  -- Executive Decree No. 31 of 21 April 2001: Created the 
National System for Training on Gender that provides training 
on gender-based issues to strengthen the ability of 
government agencies and NGOs to formulate, implement, 
continue, and evaluate public policies, programs, and 
projects on gender-related issues applicable to such 
agencies. Also works for the formulation, implementation, 
continuation, and evaluation of public policies, programs, 
and projects on gender-related issues. 
www asamblea gob pa/GACETAS/2000/2001/24284 2001.PDF 
 
  -- Law 16 of 10 April 2002: Created the National Commission 
against Discrimination that oversees regulations to prohibit 
discrimination regarding admission and access to public 
establishments. 
www asamblea gob pa/NORMAS/1990/1999/1999 176 1226.PDF 
 
  -- Executive Decree No. 53 of 25 June 2002 (implementing 
rules related to Law 4 of 29 January 1999): Establishes equal 
employment opportunities for women. 
www asamblea gob pa/NORMAS/2000/2002/2002 522 2459.PDF 
 
  -- Article 63 of the Panamanian Labor Code: Provides for 
equal pay for equal work regardless of sex, nationality, age, 
race, social class, or political or religious beliefs. 
www leylaboral com/panama/normaspanama.aspx?item=1868&bd=47 
 
  -- Article 136 of the Panamanian Labor Code: Grants equal 
access to job promotions and provides that existing employees 
should be favored over outside hires to fill job vacancies. 
www leylaboral com/panama/normaspanama.aspx?item=1868&bd=47 
 
  -- Article 26 of the Panamanian Maritime Law: Prohibits 
companies or organizations related to maritime trade from 
discriminatory contracting and hiring practices for reasons 
based on creed, race, or political affiliation. 
www asamblea gob pa/NORMAS/1990/1998/1998 157 2061.pdf 
 
  -- Article 82 of the Organic Law of the Panama Canal 
Authority: Provides that the labor policies of the Panama 
Canal Authority are non-discriminatory and are based on merit 
and equality of opportunities. 
www pancanal com/eng/legal/law/index.html 
 
Para 8. Key legislation that prohibits discrimination on 
grounds other than those stated in paragraph 7: 
 
  -- Law No. 1 of 28 January 1992: Establishes protection for 
hearing impaired or disabled people in education and economic 
and social security 
www asamblea gob pa/NORMAS/1990/1992/1992 062 1119.PDF 
 
  -- Law No. 18 of 1993: Ratifies the Convention on the 
Readaptation and Employment of Disabled Persons, as adopted 
by the International Labor Organization's General Conference 
of June 20, 1983 (Convention No. 159) 
www asamblea gob pa/NORMAS/1990/1993/1993 085 2418.PDF 
 
  -- Law No. 3, Article 37 of 5 January 2000: Prohibits 
employment discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS and 
other sexually transmitted diseases. 
www asamblea gob pa/GACETAS/2000/2006/25427 2006.PDF 
 
  -- Law 59 of 28 December 2005: Prohibits discrimination and 
firing of workers with chronic, involuntary, and degenerative 
illnesses without just cause. 
www asamblea gob.pa/NORMAS/2000/2005/2005 545 1019.PDF 
 
  -- Law 25 of 10 July 2007: Ratifies Convention on Rights of 
Disabled Persons and Operating Protocol of the Convention 
regarding the Rights of Disabled Persons adopted by the U.N. 
 
General Assembly on 13 December 2006 which prohibits 
discrimination based on disability. 
www rhinodomain 
com/gacetas/11%20jul%202007%2025832/l252007.p df 
 
  -- Resolution 606-A-R-256 of 27 July 2005: created the 
equal employment office under the Minister of Government and 
Justice's Office as an administrative unit that advises on 
the promotion, design, and execution of public policy related 
to gender and the equalization of opportunities for disabled 
persons. 
www asamblea gob pa/GACETAS/2000/2005/25371 2005.PDF 
 
  -- Law No. 23 of 28 June 2007: Created the National 
Secretariat for the Social Integration of Persons with 
 
SIPDIS 
Disabilities.  Codifies Executive Decree 103 of 1 September 
¶2004. 
www gacetaoficial gob pa/pdfTemp/25824/5114.pdf 
 
  -- Executive Decree No. 124 of 27 May 2005: Creation of a 
special commission for the establishment of a governmental 
policy for the inclusion of Afro-Panamanians. 
www asamblea gob pa/GACETAS/2000/2005/25339 2005.PDF 
 
  -- Executive Decree No. 116 of 29 May 2007: Created the 
National Council on the Black Ethnic Group. 
www asamblea gob pa/NORMAS/2000/2007/2007 553 2007.PDF 
 
Para 9.  The remedies that exist in Panamanian law against 
discrimination are of an administrative nature (fines, 
restitution of employment and payment of back wages).  There 
are no penal or criminal remedies.  In cases of 
discrimination based on disability, according to Anibal 
Miranda, Director of the Office of Disabled Persons Affairs, 
such office would impose "moral" sanctions, such as 
publicizing cases of discrimination in newspapers and other 
media.  Specific remedies relating to specific laws can be 
found in the aforementioned texts of such laws. 
 
2.(U) ADMINISTRATION OF LABOR LAW 
 
Para 10.  The GOP does not conduct random or systematic 
inspections or reviews of government or private sector 
employers in order to ensure the implementation of 
anti-discrimination laws.  The GOP Ministry of Labor 
Relations (MITRADEL) only conducts such inspections after a 
discrimination complaint has been filed with MITRADEL. 
During 2006, MITRADEL conducted 22,190 inspections, 15,568 of 
which were labor-related.  MITRADEL does not break down its 
inspection data further to determine how many of these 
inspections were related to anti-discrimination matters. 
MITRADEL does not have 2005 inspection data available for 
public reference. 
 
Para 11.  Responsibility for enforcing laws and regulations 
prohibiting employment discrimination lies in the first 
instance with the Boards of Conciliation and Decision 
(BCD)(created by Law 7 of 25 February 1975), and the Labor 
Courts.  The BCD is an agency within MITRADEL and has 
jurisdiction over matters with an amount in controversy of 
less than $1,500.  The Labor Courts have jurisdiction over 
matters with an amount in controversy of $1,500 or greater. 
Decisions of the BCD can be appealed to the Labor Minister. 
Decisions of the Labor Minister and Labor Courts can be 
appealed to the Superior Tribunal.  Decisions of the Superior 
Tribunal can be appealed to the Third Chamber of the Supreme 
Court.  According to Magistrate Judge Abel Zamorano, there 
are no reported cases in the Superior Tribunal related to 
discrimination cases involving race, color, sex, religion, 
political opinion, nationality, social status, or chronic or 
degenerative diseases.  The scope of remedy for employment 
discrimination is limited to administrative relief (fines and 
restitution of unpaid compensation and employment).  There 
are no criminal penalties. 
 
Para 12.  See response to item 11.  In the event of improper 
termination and employment restatement is ordered,the 
employee is to be reinstated to his original position within 
two business days after judgement is rendered.  In the event 
of improper termination and reinstatement is not ordered, the 
employee shall be paid a seniority premium that is equal to 
one week's wages for every year of work from the beginning of 
the employment relationship (if employed for less than one 
year, the employee shall receive one week's pay for every 
three months of employment, but in no event less than one 
week's wages). 
 
3.(U) APPLICATION OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION STANDARD 
 
Para 13.  With respect to the grounds identified in reftel 
paragraph 7, see response to reftel paragraphs 19 and 25 
below.  The GOP otherwise has no national action plan or 
other key formal government strategy to address the 
prohibited grounds identified in paragraph 7. 
 
Para 14.  With respect to the grounds identified in reftel 
paragraph 8, the GOP, pursuant to Law 23 of 28 June 2007, 
created the National Secretariat of Disabled Persons 
(SENADIS).  SENADIS is an agency designed to advise the 
Executive Branch on policy matters related to the inclusion 
of disabled persons in all aspects of society including 
labor, family, school, work, community affairs, culture, 
recreation, and sports.  The National Advisory Council for 
the Social Integration of Disabled Persons (CONADIS) was 
established at the same times as SENADIS.  CONADIS's 
functions are to: (1) propose strategies to achieve the 
social integration of disabled persons, (2) propose and 
advance efforts to advance the human rights of disabled 
persons, (3) promote the equality of opportunities of 
disabled persons, (4) increase awareness of issues affecting 
disabled persons, (5) promote the governmental and 
interinstitutional participation of disabled persons, and (6) 
promote, with the public and private sector, areas for the 
increased awareness of issues affecting disabled persons, 
labor rights, elimination of barriers, and advancement of the 
rights of disabled persons.  To date, SENADIS has signed 
memoranda of understanding with the Ombudsman (Defensoria del 
Pueblo), the University of Panama, the Technical University 
of Panama, the Autonomous University of Chiriqui, the 
Specialized University of the Americas, and the Organization 
of the Ibero-American States for Education, Science, and 
Culture.  As part of their National Strategic Plan for the 
Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities and their 
Families (2005-2009) (NSP)(a copy of which can be found at 
www presidencia gob 
pa/senadis/planestrategiconacional.pdf),SENAD IS is working to 
facilitate the inclusion of people with disabilities in the 
workplace, revise and strengthen legal mechanisms to permit 
the inclusion of disabled people in the labor market, and 
include disabled persons' needs in the modernization process 
for the Ministry of Labor.  Section 7.3 of this NSP focuses 
exclusively on labor affairs for the disabled. 
 
MITRADEL, the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES), and the 
National Training Institute have a program to provide job 
training to disabled persons.  According to CONADIS, as of 
August 2005 (NSP p.19), 183 disabled persons have received 
such job training. 
 
According to the NSP (p.19), the Panamanian Association of 
Industries of Goodwill have provided an apprenticeship 
program to 7,115 disabled persons between 2001 and April 2005. 
 
Copies of the above referenced agreements/documents are found 
at the SENADIS website.  The website for SENADIS is www 
presidencia gob pa/senadis. 
 
Article 45 of Law 42 of 27 August 1999 provides that if less 
than 2% of a company's employees are disabled, such company 
must pay a fine equal to the minimum wage attributable to 
each disabled employee not otherwise hired to reach such 2% 
figure.  According to CONADIS, as of August 2005 (most recent 
available study), the GOP has hired 358 disabled persons. 
 
Para 15.  The aforementioned programs and plans are new, and 
as a result, there are no evaluations to date. 
 
4.(U) WOMEN 
 
Para 17.  Labor Code: Article 127, No. 12; Article 138, No. 
15; Article 213, No. 15. 
www mitradel gob pa/html/codigo de trabajo/codigotrabajo.pdf. 
 
 
Para 18. According to UNDP Report "Economy and Gender in 
Panama: Visualizing the Participation of Women" (2005), men 
earned between $45.20 and $55.80 more per month than women in 
the years 1991 to 1998, respectively.  The UNDP Report stated 
that as of 2005, men earned $42.00 more per month than women. 
 According to the Third Clara Gonzalez National Report on 
Women's Status in Panama, a man with a doctorate in Panama 
earned, on average, $2,627.00 per month, whereas a woman with 
the same level of education made about $1,923.70 per month -- 
$704.00 less per month.  The UNDP report (page 66) also 
 
contains information on the percentage of men and women in 
service, management, executive and other types of positions. 
The UNDP Report stated that women held 184,244 (69%) of 
service-related jobs, compared to 82,236 for men.  The report 
stated that women held the majority of jobs in financial 
institutions, hotels, and restaurants, domestic labor, 
teaching, and social and health services.  The link for this 
document is www undp org 
pa/portal/lang es/tabID 3654/DesktopDefault.aspx.  Please 
note that this report is only available on the website in 
Spanish. 
 
According to the Controller General Office's Household Survey 
of March 2007, women held 41% of management or executive 
private sector positions as of March 2007.  Women held 14,915 
of the reported 36,021 positions. 
 
Para 19.  The National Directorate of Women and National 
System for Gender Training (both under MIDES, the Ministry of 
Social Development), along with the Office of Women in the 
Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the National System of 
Public Investment, coordinated training programs for 
governmental workers designed to (a) formulate, implement, 
and evaluate projects from a gender-based perspective and (b) 
plan public policies focused on gender-based issues.  This 
training resulted in the Procedures and Regulations Manual 
for the National System of Public Investment and contained a 
gender-based perspective.  As of 2004 (the most recent date 
available), there have been 290 training sessions for 9,982 
individuals (3,407 men and 6,575 women), focusing on ensuring 
that gender issues are considered in public policy matters. 
 
5.(U) PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 
 
Para 20.  In 2006, SENADIS conducted the first and only 
detailed study on the plight and reality of disabled people 
in Panama.  The study does not contain statistical 
information regarding discrimination of disabled persons.  A 
link to a general overview of the study is www presidencia 
gob pa/senadis/confhem/public/pendis/pendis%20ing les ppt. 
 
The reference to "substantial" relates to anecdotal evidence 
and conversations with various government and 
non-governmental individuals concerning the plight of 
disabled persons.  In the NSP described in paragraph 14 
above, the introductory paragraph states "The segregation and 
prejudicial exclusion of disabled persons are historical fact 
in our society.  Disablility is perceived negatively, 
sometimes this is due to cultural factors which constitute 
true barriers to allowing disabled persons access to the 
benefits of goods and social services."  The NSP goes on to 
note, "In our country there is no national registry of 
disabled persons or a national system of information on such 
matters, as such it is difficult to have a scientific 
characterization on the issue of disability on a national 
level." 
 
Para 21.  See response to paragraph 20. 
 
Para 22.  The Ombudsman (Defensoria del Pueblo) was created 
by Article 129 of the Panamanian Constitution.  Its purpose 
is to provide oversight for the protection of the rights and 
protections afforded to Panamanians by the Panamanian 
Constitution, domestic laws, and international treaties.  The 
Ombudsman's Office was established pursuant to Article 4, Law 
7 of 5 February 1997.  The Ombudsman is an independent 
government institution which reports to the President. 
Within the Ombudsman's jurisdiction are all matters which 
affect human rights, including matters of discrimination and 
violations of the right to work. As of 9 August 2007, there 
have been 25 complaints filed in the Ombudsman's Office, nine 
of which have been employment-related. 
 
¶6. (U) NATIONAL/RACIAL/ETHNIC MINORITIES 
 
Para 23.  There are some forms of discrimination written into 
Panama's Constitution. While Panamanians and foreigners are 
equal before the law, if a person is a Panamanian citizen, is 
married to a Panamanian citizen, or has children who are 
Panamanian citizens, they have more rights than those that 
are/do not.  With regard to labor, preference is given to 
such persons in hiring and firing decisions.  (Article 20 of 
the Panamanian Constitution, Articles 128.13 and 213 (c)(3) 
of the Labor Code).  Such Article 20 of the Panamanian 
Constitution provides that equality under the law for 
Panamanians and foreigners is subordinate to limitations for 
reasons of work, health, morality, public security, and the 
 
national economy.  As such, Article 17 of the Labor Code 
provides that every employer should, in effect, maintain 
Panamanian workers, foreigners with a Panamanian spouse, or 
foreigners who have residency of at least ten years.  The 
aforementioned workers should make up no less than 90% of 
ordinary workers with a company. For certain specialized or 
technical work, foreign workers are not to exceed 15% of 
total workers.  According to Article 18 of the Labor Code, 
employers that are authorized to contract specialized or 
technical workers have the obligation to substitute the 
specialized worker for a Panamanian at the end of a maximum 
term of five years (according to the date that the 
authorization for the contract was authorized).  Panamanian 
law makes no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants 
regarding employment rights. 
 
Articles 3 and 16 of Law 9 of 18 April 1984 provide that only 
Panamanian nationals may practice law in Panama. 
 
Article 45 of Law 21 of 29 January 2003 provides that only 
Panamanian nationals may work as crew members on 
Panamanian-registered aircraft. 
 
Article 4 of Law 57 of September 1978 provides that only 
Panamanian nationals may work as architects or engineers in 
Panama. 
 
Additional restrictions on the employment or business 
activities of non-Panamanian nationals may be found in Annex 
I- List of Panama to the proposed U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion 
Agreement (copy of which can be found at www ustr 
gov/Trade Agreements/Bilateral/Panama FTADraft.) 
 
Para 24.  There are no government or NGO statistics that 
separate hiring practices between light skinned individuals 
and dark skinned individuals.  The indigenous are the only 
racial group for which certain separate employment statistics 
are collected.  (See Controller General's Household 
Employment Survey March 2007 at www.contraloria.gob.pa). 
According to Melva Goodin, Treasurer and former President of 
the Afro-Panamanian Society, GOP officials at the Controller 
General's Office say that the large number of mixed race 
people makes it impractical to determine what the dividing 
line between light skinned and dark skinned people should be. 
 The U.S. State Department's website states that Panama's 
racial makeup is as follows: 70% Mestizo (mixed Amerindian 
and European ancestry), 14% Amerindian and mixed West Indian, 
10% Caucasian, and 6% Amerindian.  Many have criticized 
statistics such as those published on the State Department 
website, saying that they fail to acknowledge a strong 
African ancestry amongst the vast majority of the Panamanian 
population.  According to Professor Tomas Arias, Director of 
the DNA and Human Genome Institute at the University of 
Panama, Panama's general population has a gene pool with 
origins that are 36.5% black, 37.6% indigenous, and 25.9% 
white/caucasian. 
 
We have anecdotal evidence of lighter-skinned persons being 
hired disproportionately for management and customer-service 
oriented positions, but there are no concrete statistics to 
validate this phenomenon. 
 
Para 25.  Executive Decree 124 of 27 May 2005 created the 
Black Ethnic Commission. The Black Ethnic Commission's plan 
of action is a one-page document which reads as follows: 
Plan of Action 
  -- Reduction of poverty and promotion of development 
  -- Access to employment 
  -- Participation in public life 
  -- Racial discrimination (Bad treatment and excessive use 
of force) 
  -- Health 
  -- Education and culture 
  -- Religion 
  -- Housing 
  -- Political participation 
 
According to Melva Lowe de Goodin, a member of the Black 
Ethnic Commission, as of 26 July 2007, the only concrete 
action taken by the Commission has been to establish an 
office where individuals would be able to file racial/ethnic 
discrimination complaints.  There is no confirmed date set 
for the opening of this office. 
 
¶7. INDIGENOUS PEOPLE 
 
Para 26.  According to Ignacio Rodriguez, Director of 
 
Indigenous Policy at the Ministry of Government and Justice, 
the GOP has no official report on the labor conditions of 
indigenous people.  Indigenous people are, however, known to 
be employed throughout Panama. However, the GOP does not 
maintain statistics on the number of indigenous people 
employed by province.  The GOP maintains employment 
statistics only on non-indigenous people by province. 
According to the Controller General's Office March 2007 
Household Employment Survey, as of March 2007, there were 
77,287 employed indigenous people in Panama.  Of this total, 
52,372 worked in agriculture, hunting, forestry, and 
livestock; 10,525 in manufacturing; 4,133 in education; 3,067 
in fishing; and 2,132 in retail and wholesale commerce. 
Since 71% of the employed indigenous are employed in 
agriculture, hunting, forestry, livestock, and fishing, it 
can be deduced that the bulk of the employed indigenous are 
located in the rural areas of Panama and not in the major 
urban centers of Panama City and Colon. Indigenous people 
account for only 5.8% of the national employed workforce. 
Given that there is no government statistic on the location 
of the employed indigenous, there are also no statistics or 
reports on the differences in discrimination between the 
indigenous in the predominantly indigenous areas and the rest 
of Panama. 
 
Para 27. The GOP does not maintain statistics supporting or 
contradicting this statement.  According to the Controller 
General Office's March 2007 Household Employment Survey, of 
the 77,287 employed indigenous, 43,440 worked for themselves 
and 19,850 worked for family businesses.  As such, few 
indigenous work as contracted employees of established 
businesses, making it further difficult to document the 
above-referenced statement. 
 
According to an International Labor Organization 2006 Report 
entitled "Child Labor and Indigenous People" (a Spanish 
version copy of which can be found at www oit org 
pe/IPEC/documents/panama.pdf), (ILO 2006 Report), indigenous 
workers are paid 32% less than non-indigenous workers (p.35). 
 According to this report, indigenous children occupy the 
worst form of child labor in Panama, as defined by ILO 
Agreement 182, which was ratified by Law 18 of 15 June 2000. 
 
The GOP does not provide special services to indigenous 
workers to address employment-related matters.  Indigenous 
workers must avail themselves of the normal administrative or 
judicial process described in response to paragraph 11 above. 
 
Para 28.  The statement in reftel paragraph 28 draws largely 
on anecdotal evidence and the ILO 2006 Report.  Page 87 of 
the ILO 2006 Report details the lack of basic services 
afforded to indigenous workers on the coffee plantations in 
the province of Los Santos.  The ILO 2006 Report notes that 
indigenous workers suffer greater health problems than 
non-indigenous workers (p. 88-89).  The Annexes of the ILO 
2006 Report detail the lack of education, health services, 
higher mortality, lower life expectancy, and higher levels of 
malnutrition for indigenous workers compared to 
non-indigenous workers. 
 
The GOP inspections of plantations are the same as any other 
company.  See response to reftel paragraph 10. 
 
¶8. OTHER 
 
Para 29. According to the Foundation for the Well-Being and 
Dignity of Persons Afflicted with HIV/AIDS (PROBISIDA) and 
the Ministry of Health (MINSA), MINSA lacks sufficient funds 
to implement HIV/AIDS awareness or prevention programs. 
According to PROBISIDA, the GOP has not, and is not, taking 
any action to increase awareness of any laws affecting 
persons with HIV/AIDS.  PROBISIDA program manager Edith 
Triston told EMBOFFS that their organization focuses on 
HIV/AIDS health issue awareness, and not awareness of 
HIV/AIDS anti-discrimination law. 
Arreaga