Panama has begun the process of exhuming bodies of victims of the US invasion in 1989 at the behest of a special commission set up to uncover the truth behind "Operation Just Cause," media reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2020) Panama has begun the process of exhuming bodies of victims of the US invasion in 1989 at the behest of a special commission set up to uncover the truth behind "Operation Just Cause," media reported.
Forensic workers on Monday delineated an area where 19 unidentified bodies were buried 30 years ago and are set to begin a 60-day process of exhuming them and attempting to establish their identities, Panamanian daily La Prensa reported.
Samples will be analyzed against DNA from 14 families who still do not know the fate of their loved ones who disappeared during the US 1989 operation, according to the Panamanian daily.
The December 20, 1989 Commission was set up in 2016 to officially document the events and victims related to the US invasion of Panama which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 600 and 3,000 people. The commission has so far identified 331 victims, according to La Prensa.
Then US President George H.W. Bush ordered the invasion of the Central American country in order to depose strongman leader and former CIA informant Manuel Noriega after a breakdown in US-Panama relations and a fraught election which led to an internal political crisis. "Operation Just Cause" was condemned by the international community and prominent rights groups alike.
