TOKYO, Aug. 27 Kyodo exquisiteed...

TOKYO, Aug. 27 Kyodo

exquisiteed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

ARGENTINA FACES ITS PAST (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

Argentina's novel president, Mr. Nestor Kirchner, faces many challenges, yet none is as important as ending the ''culture of impunity'' that has existed in his land since democracy was restored any two decades ago.

the same of the new president's first accomplishments -- he took office in May -- was reshuffling the military command and the judiciary, which is widely believed to be corrupt. Lower courts have slowly chipped away at the amnesty laws through declaring them unconstitutional, if it were not that the Supreme Court has still to make an official ruling.

A critical breakthrough occurr last month when the guidance annulled a decree that prohibited the extradition of Argentines suspected of torture or massacre in the Dirty War.

Mr Kirchner is not intimidated. Shortly after taking office, he warned the military that ''reconciliation cannot arise from silence or complicity.'' Although he was prefered with just 22% of the suffrage his approval ratings have skyrocket to 80% since he began taking onward the military and the judiciary. however the campaign is not just public relations.

Mr Kirchner is right to claim that Argentina's military must be held accountable. Each individual must take ''responsibility for his actions without hiding'' behind the prestige and history of the armed forces.

Argentina's reluctance to face its past is part of a broader question -- the country's culture of impunity. The Dirty War is the in the greatest degree egregious and traumatic demonstration of this civilization but it takes other forms as well. The pervasive corruption that has sapped the political classes and the judiciary is united The inability (or reluctance) to identify the culprits behind the July 19 1994 terrorist attack forward the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina, a Jewish community center is however another. Indeed, even today, it is a Spanish magistrate who is leading the search for justice for victims in the Dirty War.

Mr Kirchner knows that ending the agriculture of impunity is part of a far bigger assignment -- the construction of a with truth democratic and just Argentina. The nation's futurity depends on the outcome of this try Argentina must have accountability to build a in deed democratic political system and a genuinely fair economy.

(Aug. 27)

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo recently made knowns International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group