U.S. Turns Over 32 Prisoners of War to Panama

PANAMA CITY — The United States has turned over to Panamanian authorities 32 former Panama Defense Forces officers and paramilitary leaders held as prisoners of war on a U.S. military base since the invasion of Panama more than a month ago, the U.S. Southern Command announced Monday.

The transfer of the prisoners to the Carcel Modelo, a local jail, marked the first step in a process designed to bring to trial in Panamanian courts the lieutenants of Manuel A. Noriega most directly implicated in the brutality and corruption that characterized his regime.

Among the men handed over to Panamanian justice Sunday were Col. Alberto Puercel Lacrespo, a former top officer in the PDF civil affairs unit who is charged with abusing his authority, and Rigoberto Paredes, a former legislator and paramilitary Dignity Battalion commander accused of multiple counts of assault. If convicted, both face possible prison sentences of more than 20 years, said Mercedes de Leon, a prosecutor in the attorney general’s office.

An additional 55 prisoners, most of them even higher-ranking former members of the PDF, are still incarcerated at the more secure U.S. facility outside the capital at Ft. Clayton, said Lt. Col. James L. Swank, a spokesman for the Southern Command. The detainees, held at the request of the Panamanian government, have been treated as prisoners of war under Geneva Convention guidelines that have permitted the United States to deny them access to lawyers or visitors since they were seized.

The group represents the last of 5,300 Panamanians originally detained for questioning by the United States to remain in U.S. custody.