Editorials
Tuesday, August 25, 1998

Trial offer on Pan Am
bombing was a blunder

THE decision by the United States and Britain to allow two Libyans charged in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland to be tried in the Netherlands sets an alarming precedent. It represents a deplorable concession to Libya, which had refused to hand over the two suspects in the case for trial in either the U.S. or Britain.

Coming in the wake of the missile strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan in response to the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the announcement blurs the image of U.S. resolve in fighting terrorism.

The Pan Am bombing killed all 259 passengers and crew, and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. Among the dead were 189 Americans. At the time of the 1991 indictment of the two defendants, the State Department said the midair bombing was "a Libyan government operation from start to finish."

Because this hideous crime occurred in British air space over Scotland, the case should be tried in Scotland. The joint proposal by Washington and London specifies that a Scottish court would try the case in the Netherlands, which is an assurance that justice would be served although the legal status of the trial would be questionable. But no concession whatever should have been made. This one opens the door for acceptance of even more outrageous demands in this or future cases.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the step "is fully consistent with U.N. Security Council resolutions, and has been suggested to us as a way to call the Libyan government's bluff and to bring the fugitives into court at long last." Calling Moammar Gadhafi's bluff isn't worth the departure from the principle that the case should be tried in the country where the crime was committed.

It's doubtful that Gadhafi will now be willing to turn over the suspects unless he can obtain the further concession of having a politicized international court hear the case, as he has long demanded. But if Gadhafi does agree, he will still have won a victory that should never have been conceded.

His claim that the Libyans could not receive a fair trial in the United States or Britain is laughable, coming from a dictator who sponsors terrorists.

Susan Cohen, mother of one of the Pan Am victims, asked, "Why should a terrorist have a right to decide where he is tried?" There is no acceptable answer.

Russian crisis

THE return of Viktor Chernomyrdin as prime minister of Russia has thrown young economic reformists out of power for failing to avert a financial crisis. The appointment of the onetime Soviet manager may appease Russia's Communist-dominated parliament and tycoons who were threatened by the reformists, but an end to the crisis is far from assured. Russia's refusal to take steps to strengthen the move to a market economy could jeopardize assistance from the West.

President Boris Yeltsin sacked Chernomyrdin, 60, from the post of prime minister five months ago to instill youthful energy into the Kremlin. Sergei Kiriyenko, his 36-year-old replacement, aggressively targeted tax delinquents, including energy monopolies, and managed to cut spending and increase tax revenues in recent months. However, his efforts came too late to avert a devaluation of the ruble, which Yeltsin had promised only three days earlier would not happen. The appointment of Chernomyrdin is not likely to stabilize the Russian currency.

The change of leadership is expected to result in slower progress toward market reform, although Russia cannot afford to abandon the effort. The International Monetary Fund will closely monitor its restructuring of $40 billion in debt. International lenders will continue to demand effective methods of increasing revenue as a condition for future loans.

The effect of the government revamping on the election two years from now is uncertain. Yeltsin's alienation of reformists could help the growth of liberal economist Grigory Yavlinsky's Yabloko party, which has been critical of the Yeltsin government even with the reformists aboard. Longtime Yavlinsky friend Boris Nemtsov, who was Kiriyenko's mentor, immediately announced his resignation as deputy prime minister, saying Russia's economic problems "are unlikely to find a solution from the Chernomyrdin government."

The failure to include reform-minded deputies in the new cabinet is likely to provoke the formation of a formidable reformist coalition for the next election.

Hawaiian immersion

THE dedication of a new school building for Hawaiian language immersion classes in Kekaha, Kauai, is a milestone for the immersion program. In this case, the program is for children of Niihau residents who are living on Kauai. Niihau is the only island where Hawaiian is still the dominant language. Niihauans on Kauai want their children to retain the language -- and their unique dialect.

The new quarters for the immersion program are in the former National Guard armory. The building was renovated with grants from the federal government, the Grace Pacific Foundation and the Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation. There are five classrooms, a computer room, an activities room and two offices.

The building is a far cry from the situation five years ago when the children attended school in a park because the Department of Education refused to provide space at Kekaha Elementary. For two years the Waimea United Church of Christ extended use of its auditorium, until the DOE allocated a single classroom at Kekaha Elementary.

The new quarters are tangible evidence that the effort to preserve Hawaiian as a living language is being taken seriously.

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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor