A/HRC/59/49/Add.2 facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies. Panama was not present during the voting on the Global Compact for Migration, but subsequently informed the Secretariat that it had intended to vote in favour. 1 Panama voted in favour of the Global Compact on Refugees.2 Panama serves as a “champion country” for the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration. B. Regional legal framework and relevant proceedings 13. Panama is a founding member of the Organization of American States (OAS), created in 1948. With the members of OAS, Panama adopted the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man and is subject to the decisions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In the context of migration, the Inter-American Court has developed guidelines on the rights of migrants, establishing, among other principles, the prohibition of criminalization of irregular migration and the right not to be arbitrarily expelled. Panama has ratified the American Convention on Human Rights and the Additional Protocols thereto, and the Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors. 14. Panama is a State Party to the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, which broadens the definition of refugees in Latin America to include persons fleeing generalized violence, massive human rights violations and other circumstances that seriously disturb public order. 15. Panama participates in various forums and initiatives that seek to coordinate responses to migration challenges and opportunities, including hosting the Central American Conference of the Human Rights Initiative in 2024 and participating in the Regional Conference on Migration, the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, the Ibero-American Forum on Migration and Development and the Quito Process. Since 2021, it has been part of a working group on gender-based violence, organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which promotes public policies that are sensitive to gender, children and refuge populations. C. National legal, policy and institutional framework and recent progress 1. National legislation on migration 16. Under article 17 of the Constitution of Panama, adopted on 11 October 1972, the State authorities are established for the purpose of protecting the lives, honour and property of all nationals, wherever they may be, and of foreigners under its jurisdiction, ensuring the effectiveness of individual and social rights and duties, and observing and enforcing the Constitution and the law. Under article 19, the Constitution provides that there must be no privileges or discrimination on the basis of race, birth, disability, social class, gender, religion or political beliefs. 17. Executive Decree No. 5 of 16 January 2018 provides for the widest possible enjoyment of international and regional human rights standards for those who invoke refugee status upon entering the country and for refugees. 18. Executive Decree No. 23 of 10 February 1998 defines the procedure for the recognition of refugee status and regulates the rights and duties of persons with refugee status. 19. Act No. 458 of 3 December 2024, amending Act No. 79 of 9 November 2011, on trafficking in persons and related activities, provides for the prevention, investigation and criminalization of all forms of trafficking in persons and related activities, national or transnational, including in relation to organized crime, and for the care and protection of victims of such crimes. 1 2 4 See A/73/PV.60. See A/73/PV.55. GE.25-06871