A LAWYER inspired ploy or sheer effrontery? That’s the question being asked by many observers of the current scandal plagued scene in Panama when three of the prime suspects in five years of pillaging and intimidation of their fellow citizens, go on hunger strike claiming “ violation of human rights”

 Three high rollers in the Ricardo Martinelli administration are behind bars in La Gran Joya prison which, in comparative terms could be described as the luxury offshoot of the notorious overcrowded hell hole of La Joya, scene of riots, killings and gang wars, and listed as one of the worst prisons in the world. Some of its denizens have been incarcerated there for over four years, awaiting trial, with no high profile lawyers to plead their case or scream for habeas corpus so their well-heeled clients can return home to fine dining, maid service and often loosely defined “house arrest.”
That is what two former directors of the Security Council, Alejandro Garuz and Gustavo Pérez are looking for and are on hunger strike claiming alleged violation of human rights, especially the short supply of clean water.
The prison is located in Pacora where residents have suffered for years from faulty water supplies and where local health centers are frequently forced to cancel medical and dental services because of lack of water. In the greater scheme of things this has gone largely unnoticed because those who have been deprived belong to the major part of Panama’s population, the “ have-nots”.
Garuz and Pérez are accused of spending years spying on opposition politicians, judges, journalists and anyone opposed to the Martinelli regime. We have now been informed by the prestigious Guardian newspaper that the results of their surveillance were not only to build files to discredit opponents and spread disinformation via social networks and comment columns but, with the snooping on sexual encounters, to provide ,  salacious tidbits for Martinelli social events at which he openly flaunted his mistress while in public, promoting his wife as a future vice-president of Panama.
Joining the hunger strike is Rafael Guardia whose only redeeming feature is his confession to salting away in just two years, over $18 million in local and overseas banks, while providing himself multiple luxury homes and fine living while heading the National Assistance Program (PAN) which flipped the Robin Hood legend and robbed the poor to feed the rich … That is true human rights abuse.