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YouTubeCorruption Prevention as an Essential Component of the Prison Reform Process in Panama
On 23 and 24 June 2016, under the UNODC Project PANZ59 "Consolidating prison reform improvements in Panama", with the support of the US Embassy in Panama, a training workshop on corruption prevention was conducted for Prison Directors and Heads of Departments of the Directorate General of the Prison System of the Republic of Panama.
The training workshop was conducted by a variety of national and international experts. Among the latter, the specialists included Emiliano Blanco, National Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Argentina; Cristian Suriano, Director of the Intelligence Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Argentina; and Luis Vergara, UNODC Consultant on anti-corruption matters. Other experts who participated include Lic. Rodrigo Garcia, Director of Access to Information of ANTAI; Dr. Carlos Gasnell Acuña, President of Transparency International in Panama; and Anticorruption Attorney, Tania Sterling. The topics presented and discussed included: "Good Practices of Anticorruption Models in the region"; "The laws and criminal consequences for those who commit acts of corruption"; "Risk Classification"; "Dynamic security, information analysis and internal affairs"; "Ethics of the prison officer"; and "The Inspector General Department: Objectives and Challenges".
Corruption, unfortunately, is a common feature of all prison systems in the region and one of the main obstacles for achieving efficient and effective management of prisons. Moreover, corruption is directly related to the violation of human rights; more corruption implies more violations of the rights of people deprived of their liberty, their families and prison staff. In this context, the prevention of corruption is a central and transversal axis of UNODC intervention through the PANZ59 Project.
For more information on corruption in the prison context in the Republic of Panama, see the Technical Advisory Opinion 4/2013 in English on the following link: