E-058
March 21, 2000PANAMA RATIFIES OAS CONVENTION ON TRAFFIC IN CHILDREN
Panama has ratified the 1994 Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors, adopted in Mexico City. The ratification documents were presented at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington on Tuesday.
Delivering the documents to Secretary General César Gaviria, Panama's Permanent Representative to the OAS, Ambassador Lawrence Chewning-Fábrega, described the Convention as a very important treaty. He stressed that "application of the pertinent mechanisms is absolutely vital to comprehensive and effective protection and respect for children's rights, guaranteeing a child's best interest is always preserved."
The Panamanian diplomat described international cooperation as "a most suitable way to prevent and punish serious crimes like international trafficking in minors, also because the Convention addresses the need to regulate the civil aspects to always seek to protect a child's best interest."
Panama now joins Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as countries that have ratified the Inter-American Convention against International Traffic in Minors. The treaty entered into force on August 15, 1997 and seeks to prevent and punish international trafficking in children while regulating its civil and criminal aspects to protect fundamental rights and the best interests of children.
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