FRANCE

FRANCE
Le Monde, Paris, May 12: Vladimir Putin has decided the war in Chechnya doesn't exist. Less than a week ago, during his investiture address marking the start of a second mandate, the president barely mentioned Chechnya.
Three days later on May 9, a terror attack in the Grozny stadium reminded us in horror that Chechnya is still at war.
Relaunched five years ago by Mr. Putin, that dirty war goes on. With each morning, the cadavers of those tortured overnight are placed at the end of a street.
Western complicity
Mr. Putin can count on the complicity of Westerners, of the United States and Europeans. No senatorial inquiry commission here, no court martialed soldiers, no ONG reports.
Silence. There is no war in Chechnya.
SOUTH AFRICA
The Cape Times, Cape Town, May 11: Ten years ago yesterday President Nelson Mandela officially assumed the highest office in the land.
The next day newspapers across the world splashed the picture of Mandela and his two deputy presidents -- Thabo Mbeki and F.W. De Klerk -- with their hands clasped and arms aloft. Yesterday the three men were reunited for a special ceremony in parliament.
A sober assessment of the past 10 years might suggest that the ideals of the covenant spelt out by Mandela on that historic day have not all been met.
Achievements
But yesterday it was impossible not to agree with Mandela himself when he said of the historic events 10 years ago; "Let us refrain from chauvinistic breast-beating, but let us not also underrate what we have achieved in establishing a stable and progressive democracy where we take freedoms seriously; in building national unity in spite of decades and centuries of apartheid and colonial rule; in creating a culture in which we increasingly respect the dignity of all."
BRITAIN
The Guardian, London, May 10: Mr. Rumsfeld did not apologize for the Red Cross reports of unarmed Iraqi prisoners being shot to death by United States military personnel. He expressed no regret for employing private contractors to question people who were accused of no crime, then hiding their sadistic behavior from public scrutiny. He never mentioned how sorry he might be for turning over captives to other governments using even cruder torture methods. He showed no contrition for continuing to hide hundreds of people in Guantanamo Bay away from the law.
Such leaders have placed themselves outside the bounds of international law, their own code of justice and their much-admired constitution. In doing so, they have also removed the protection of law from those who follow their orders.
Bush's mistake
The Iraq revelations have given much of the world its voice back. We need to hear now from others about how they believe the torture system came about, and what changes they propose. We need to hear from John Kerry. And we need to hear from Tony Blair too. Above all, we need to have a sign from President Bush that he understands his mistake, not the mistakes of a handful of ill-trained reservists acting out the policies of intelligence services. That sign could be given by presidential order, no permission slip needed from Congress, from coalition partners or from the United Nations. Close Guantanamo.
BRITAIN
The Daily Telegraph, London, May 10: Now it is British soldiers who are in the dock. Yesterday's newspapers read like a lengthy charge-sheet against the Army.
Along with the accusation that troops from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment tortured Iraqi prisoners, it is alleged that soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were involved in sexual assault, that British observers were present at Abu Ghraib prison while American guards were mistreating inmates, that our forces were implicated in the shooting of Iraqi detainees and civilians, and that details of at least some cases of abuse were presented by the Red Cross in February.
It is important to emphasize that nothing has been proved against our Servicemen.
That said, it is vital that we get to the bottom of what happened.
Human institution
The Army is, of course, a human institution, and prone to human failings. If soldiers have abused their positions, they should be given exemplary and expeditious punishment; and let us hear no nonsense about young boys far from home facing difficult circumstances.
Our reputation as a country depends on our comportment abroad. If our servicemen have been unfairly blackguarded, they will be entitled to a handsome apology from several newspapers. But if they are guilty, they are a disgrace to Britain.