Pan Am 103 families speak out against UN

This week marks Remembrance Week, which honors the 35 Syracuse University students lost in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland on Dec. 21, 1988.

The hijackers of the plane were Libyan, and the country has yet to fully reimburse the victims' families with the original promised compensation.

Despite this, the United Nations elected the nation of Libya onto the Security Council last week, outraging the victims' families because of Libya's tie to the attack.

Libya's induction to the council came after years of opposition from the United States, specifically in 1995 and 2003. At both those times, Libya was under United Nations authorization because it was responsible for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

The United Nations lifted its sanctions against Libya in 2003, and the United States resumed complete diplomatic relations in 2004.

"The Pan Am 103 families are deeply saddened by the administration's decision to reverse its 15-year-long effort to block Libya's bid for a Security Council position," said Kara Weipz, president and political action chair of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103.

Family members of victims protested Washington's decision not to oppose Libya. A statement from the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 last week said they were "horrified" by the American inaction.

"In order to have U.N. sanctions lifted, Libya agreed to reveal all relevant information on the bombing," the Oct. 16 statement read. "It has never done so."

Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 entered a civil lawsuit with Libya and part of its settlement was to provide a the $2 million compensation to the families, Weipz said. Libya has not paid the families fully.

"(Libya's induction) is disappointing," Weipz said. "We are disappointed in our own government because they were too eager to accept Libya without them providing compensation. We are also disappointed in the other members of the Security Council because this is an injustice. Terrorism is not only a U.S. problem but a world problem."

Weipz lost her brother in the bombing.

Daniel Cohen, whose daughter Theodora was an SU student killed in the bombing, said Libya should not be given the responsibility of sitting in such a powerful position in the global scale. This echoed the sentiments of many victims' families.

Rosemary Wolfe, whose stepdaughter Miriam was also killed in the bombing, told The Post Standard, "to give them status on the U.N. Security Council, when they have not even met the obligations of the Security Council that condemned them, is morally reprehensible. It's just outrageous."

Wolfe was speaking in reference to Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi, who has yet to accept responsibility for the terrorist attacks and has not compensated the victims' families for their losses.

"It's outrageous for a country like Libya to take a seat on the UN Security Council when it has failed to fully compensate the family members of the victims killed in the Pan Am 103 attack," Sen. Charles Schumer told The Post Standard last week. "Libya must stop dragging its feet and promptly pay the family members for its egregious actions."

Despite this, el-Qaddafi has fulfilled all other criteria to be voted into the Security Council, including abandoning its weapons program, promising to help fight international terrorism and becoming a moderator in his volatile area of the world.

Remembrance Week will include a meeting hosted by Victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 where it will discuss the Libya induction.

A full list of the week's events is available at undergraduatestudies.syr.edu/Remembrance/index.html.