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The 29th World Congress of Public Services International (PSI),
meeting in Durban, South Africa, on 27-30 November 2012
INFORMED
of the repeated international protests by FENASEP, Panama, against the aggression suffered on two occasions by our indigenous Panamanian brothers, the Ngöbe Buglé people, because of their struggle to protect their environment against outside interests whose aim is the indiscriminate and excessive exploitation of natural and water resources which have been protected for untold generations;
CONCERNED
by the number of victims of physical and psychological aggression waged against the indigenous Ngöbe Buglé people as a result of the brutal repression meted out by Panamanian police and elite troops in February 2012;
DEPLORES
this uncalled for attack, the second such violent incident ordered and carried out in less than two years by the Head of State of the Republic of Panama, Mr. Ricardo Martinelli;
AND incontrovertibly REAFFIRMS
the violation of ILO Convention no 169, ratified by Panama, which expressly recognises that indigenous peoples have the right not only to use their own language but also to be recognised as a collective entity, together with other rights, such as the right to land and to their territories;
THEREFORE, this 29th World Congress CONDEMNS
the government of the Republic of Panama in the strongest possible terms for these repeated assaults and also calls for the Panamanian justice system to explain the excessive use of force by the police against our indigenous brothers, and for the persons responsible to be identified and punished; and
FINALLY URGES
the delegates to this 29th World Congress to send a copy of this resolution to the embassies of the Republic of Panama accredited in their countries.
See all Congress resolutions including the Program of Action and the Constitution.