Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Panama (Ratification: 2000)

Article 3(3) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Sale and trafficking of children for sexual exploitation. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the adoption on 9 November 2011 of the Act to combat trafficking in human beings and related crimes (No. 79 of 2011), which provides for higher penalties in cases where the victim is under 18 years of age and, in certain circumstances, for more severe penalties when the victim is under 14 years of age (sections 60 and 63). The new Act strengthens the National Policy Against Trafficking and takes into consideration all of the dimensions of the problem, and provides, among other measures, for the establishment of a National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons and various measures for the protection and reintegration of victims. The Government indicated that the secretariat of the National Committee for the Prevention of Crimes of Sexual Exploitation (CONAPREDES) is collecting information on the penalties handed down in 2011 and 2012 from the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the judicial authorities. The Committee also previously noted that section 318 of the new Penal Code, as amended by Act No. 26 of 21 May 2008, punishes anyone who uses a minor in the trade, purchase, sale or transfer of drugs with penalties of up to 30 years of imprisonment.

The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, the CONAPREDES recorded 634 investigations into crimes of sexual exploitation in 2014 and 1,120 investigations in 2015. However, the Government indicates that for the period 2009–16, there were only 17 convictions and ten final convictions, with the penalties ranging from 32 months of imprisonment for the corruption of a minor to ten years of imprisonment for paid sexual relations with a minor. The Committee recalls that even the best legislation only has real value when it is applied and that, whatever the severity of the penalties laid down, they will only be effective if they are applied in practice, which requires measures so that cases of violations can be referred to the judicial and administrative authorities and for these authorities to be strongly encouraged to apply such penalties (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 639). The Committee therefore requests the Government to ensure that in-depth investigations and robust prosecutions are undertaken against those responsible for trafficking of children for sexual exploitation and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are applied. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the application in practice of the provisions of Act No. 79 of 2011, and particularly statistics on the number of investigations carried out, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions imposed in this regard.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms and effective application of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the National Directorate to Combat Child Labour and Protect Young Workers (DIRETIPPAT) oversees labour inspection and is responsible for carrying out programmes for children, parents and employers with a view to the elimination of child labour. It noted that, even though the number of violations reported by the labour inspection services was relatively high in 2010 and 2011 (1,596 cases), the number of cases in which penalties were applied was low (seven cases). The Committee also noted that the objective of the ILO–IPEC project “Building effective policies against child labour in Ecuador and Panama”, launched at the beginning of 2013, is to improve public policies and law enforcement in combating child labour and that the project focuses on strengthening the labour inspectorate.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has increased the measures taken to train professionals engaged in combating child labour (including, prosecutors, police officers, customs officers, the National Secretariat for Children, Young Persons and the Family (SENNIAF), teachers and health professionals). The Government adds that, in the context of the ILO–IPEC project, the strategy has been to reinforce the capacities of national, regional and municipal institutions with a view to achieving coordinated action and the application of public policies in specific sectors and geographical areas. Among the action undertaken by the project, the Committee notes the multi-sectoral protocol for the detection and treatment of cases of child labour, implemented by MITRADEL and focusing on the regions of Darién and the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé. The Committee also notes that the ILO–IPEC project has provided support for the implementation of a binational agreement on migration and child labour between Panama and Costa Rica, particularly focusing on the Ngäbe-Buglé population, which migrates for the coffee harvest. Moreover, with the INADEH, the project has managed to develop a supplementary training module for the eradication of child labour, which has involved the development of a training course for the INADEH, the preparation of a facilitators manual and the training of facilitators. The Committee further notes that, despite the detailed information on the programmes implemented by the Government, the latter has not provided any information on the results achieved. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide specific information on the results achieved through the various programmes implemented, including the ILO–IPEC project, for the eradication of child labour in practice.

Articles 6 and 7(2). Programmes of action and effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and assistance for the removal of children from these worst forms of child labour. The Committee previously noted the approval of the National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, the general objective of which is to achieve better coordination of the action taken to prevent and combat trafficking at the national level. The main strategies include: (i) prevention; (ii) protection and assistance to victims; (iii) investigations and prosecutions; and (iv) national and international cooperation. A National Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons has been established to implement and monitor the Plan of Action, and brings together national institutions, including the SENNIAF, NGOs and civil society actors.

Among the measures taken in the context of the National Plan of Action, the Committee notes the approval of a Decree of 6 September 2016 under Act No. 79 of 2001 against trafficking, which is expected to result in the more effective application of penalties against those responsible for trafficking. The Government adds that the National Institute for Women (INAMU) and the national police have secured accommodation for victims of trafficking. In December 2014, the Prison Administration and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) inaugurated the first “Gesell Chamber” in Panama to protect the safety of victims involved in criminal proceedings as witnesses, particularly for children and young persons. The Directorate of Judicial Investigation (DIJ) of the national police has created the post of Deputy Prosecutor specializing in organized crime with a view to setting up a special unit dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of those responsible. The Government adds that in 2015 the SENNIAF only recorded one case of a girl aged between 11 and 14 years who had been saved from trafficking and repatriated to her country of origin. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that the SENNIAF has organized awareness-raising days for children, young persons and their parents. Between 2014 and June 2016, 403 parents and 1,296 children and young persons participated in these awareness-raising days on such varied subjects as stress management, drug problems and the causes and consequences of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted and the results achieved in the context of the National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons for the removal of children from trafficking and their rehabilitation and social integration. Given the low number of cases of children rescued from trafficking registered by SENNIAF, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to strengthen the effectiveness of the work of the national police and other law enforcement agencies. It encourages the Government to continue taking effective and time-bound measures to prevent children from becoming engaged in the worst forms of child labour, their removal and their rehabilitation and social integration, and to provide information on the results achieved in this respect.

Article 7(2). Clause (d). Children at special risk. 1. Children from indigenous and Afro-descendent communities. The Committee previously noted that 7 per cent of children between the ages of 5 and 17 years were engaged in work, and that this rate was 35 per cent in the indigenous population. Moreover, the enrolment rate in secondary education was 67 per cent at the national level, but was only 39 per cent in the Ngäbe-Buglé region, an area with a high concentration of indigenous people. The Committee noted that the ILO–IPEC project “Building effective policies against child labour in Ecuador and Panama” includes an important component for indigenous and Afro-descendent populations.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the ILO–IPEC project has established coordinated care at the local level to identify, address and follow up cases of child labour and that this involves the various actors engaged in action to combat child labour. Awareness-raising campaigns were also carried out in the Ngäbe-Buglé region in 2014 and 2015 to raise the awareness of children and their parents concerning the difference between work in the context of training, ancestral work and child labour, and to encourage parents to remove their children from work considered to constitute child labour. Moreover, in March 2016, an agreement was concluded between the FAO, “Casa Esperanza”, the ILO and MITRADEL for the development of a comprehensive strategy to keep children in the education system in areas where the indigenous population is of most significance. The signatories undertook to renew their efforts for the eradication of child labour in the two coffee harvesting areas in the Province of Chiriquí. Recalling that children of indigenous and Afro-descendent populations are particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue taking effective and time-bound measures to ensure the protection of these children against the worst forms of child labour, particularly through their access to education. It requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved, including through the March 2016 agreement referred to above. To the extent possible, the data should be disaggregated by age, gender and ethnic origin.

2. Child domestic workers. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that a telephone line has been set up to report violations and that 12 denunciations of child domestic work have been received and addressed. The Committee also notes the preparation of a guide for comprehensive action on child labour in domestic work, which is being prepared in collaboration between the MITRADEL, DIRETIPPAT and the ILO–IPEC project. The guide will include a mechanism to identify cases of children engaged in domestic work and a process for addressing these cases. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the preparation of the guide referred to above and to provide a copy once it has been completed. It also requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in removing children from this worst form of child labour.