Celebration, Then Reform

Peru’s government gambled, and it won.

More than four months after a humiliating security lapse let a handful of Marxist rebels occupy the Japanese ambassador’s residence in Lima, President Alberto Fujimori ordered his army to storm the compound and free the 72 hostages held by the group calling itself Tupac Amaru. Clearly carefully rehearsed, the rescue mission Tuesday achieved tactical surprise and accomplished its goal. The hostages--Japanese, Peruvians and others--were the last of more than 500 seized as they attended a reception last Dec. 17. All but one were freed alive, though some were injured.

The world can rejoice in that freedom. Along with those earlier released by their captors, the hostages were the innocent victims of a venture that never, except in the self-deceiving dreams of the terrorists themselves, had any chance of success.

The Tupac Amaru’s chief demand was for the release of other imprisoned rebels. Had Fujimori agreed, he would have signed his own political obituary, and terrorists everywhere would have been encouraged to seek new opportunities for hostage-taking. Whatever mistakes Fujimori made in this 126-day ordeal, his firmness on this vital point must be commended.

A second demand by the rebels now deserves world attention, not because they made it but because respect for civilized norms requires it. By every independent account, prison conditions in Peru, especially for those convicted of political crimes, are appalling. It may be true that many of those jailed for militant anti-government activities themselves have little respect for humane values. That does not justify a similar attitude by the authorities. The government of Peru has won a major victory. It is time now if not for magnanimity then simple decency in the treatment of its prisoners.