national

Murder probe demanded

Calls were made yesterday for the government to investigate claims made by former military officers of mass executions during the reign of Manuel A. Noriega.

“The justice system must investigate,” said Otilia de Koster, a former member of the Truth Commission that was created to investigate crimes committed during the military dictatorships that ruled the country for three decades.

Koster said that “crimes against humanity do not have a statute of limitations,” and that authorities have an obligation to investigate the claims.

According to a La Prensa report published yesterday, five former military officers who were stationed at La Palma, in the Darién, reported that up to two dozen people were executed, most of whom died after being thrown out of helicopters over the jungle or the ocean.

The story detailed the shooting of one person, described as an illegal alien from Colombia, as well as the deaths of three other illegal aliens who were pushed out of a helicopter.

La Prensa began its investigation after one of the officers approached the newspaper. It then verified that person's claim by finding four other former soldiers who independently verified his account.

Federico Britton, whose brother was assassinated in 1969 for political reasons, said the allegations need to be investigated, and that the Truth Commission failed to properly investigate many deaths simply because information was not available about them.