Chanan Singh stepped down amid allegations that at least 10 inmates died from starvation and inadequate medical care.
Panama’s prison system director, Chanan Singh, resigned Wednesday after four months in office, as human rights organizations called for investigations into the deaths of at least 10 inmates allegedly linked to starvation and inadequate medical care.
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The reported deaths occurred over the past two months at Nueva Esperanza, La Joya and La Joyita prisons, according to human rights organizations that have raised the alarm over conditions in the country’s detention facilities.
The groups say authorities have barred families from bringing food to inmates since June, leaving prisoners dependent on state-provided meals that they describe as drastically insufficient and life-threatening.
Organizaciones de DDHH denuncian que al menos 10 privados de libertad habrían muerto en cárceles panameñas por hambruna y falta de atención médica pertinente.
El director de Sistema Penitenciario, adscrito al Ministerio de Gobierno y Justicia, Chanan Singh, renunció esta tarde… pic.twitter.com/JoiyZPu2MG
— Rekha Chandiramani (@rekhapacitando) November 11, 2026
Text Reads: Human rights organizations report that at least 10 inmates have reportedly died in Panamanian prisons from starvation and lack of appropriate medical care. The director of the Prison System, which falls under the Ministry of Government and Justice, Chanan Singh, resigned this afternoon as a result. Singh denounced interference by police agencies in duties that legally fall to prison guards, who are civilian officials under the umbrella of @MinGobPma
Around 20 organizations, including Alianza Ciudadana Pro Justicia, Asociación Trans Diversa, Centro de Estudios y Capacitación Familiar and Observatorio Panamá Afro, have demanded the immediate removal of the head of the General Directorate of the Penitentiary System and the directors of the three prisons while criminal and administrative investigations are conducted.
They have also called on the minister of government to disclose the official death toll and explain what urgent measures are being taken to prevent further deaths. The organizations stressed that the Panamanian state has a constitutional obligation to safeguard the lives and health of everyone in its custody.
Speaking as he left office, Singh cited administrative difficulties and information leaks during his four-month tenure. He also defended his position that the National Police should withdraw from the internal management of prisons.
“What I want, unequivocally, is for the National Police to withdraw from all involvement in the prison system and carry out its duties externally, not internally,” he said.
Singh argued that internal security should be handled exclusively by civilian correctional officers under the Ministry of Government.
He also disclosed that an internal review of prisons nationwide had identified four inmates who were missing from both official records and the facilities themselves. One has since been captured, leaving three still unaccounted for, he said. Responsibility for locating them rested with the National Police.
The outgoing director also defended tighter controls on inmate transfers under Law No. 55, summing up his approach to the job by saying: “I came to work and restore order. That’s all.”
The organizations behind the human rights warning also pointed to previous cases involving state responsibility for abuses in detention facilities, including the Jan. 9, 2011, tragedy at the Tocumen Juvenile Detention Center and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ ruling against Panama in the Vélez Loor v. Panama case.
They warned that failure to address the reported deaths could once again lead to Panama being internationally regarded as a state that violates human rights, emphasizing the devastating impact of each death on inmates’ mothers, sisters, daughters and other family members.
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