European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 4, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns Flora Lewis the stars and stripes sunday. October 4,1987 ideology May be of Little concern in 21st Century whatever happened while Mikhail Gorbachev was mysteriously out of sight for nearly two months he is Back and things Are starting to happen in the East again. So far they arc mostly words and such startling words that the temptation is to write them off As the familiar extravagance of communist party propaganda. But the sense of concern about Basic soviet policy intentions during Gorbachev s disappearance should serve As a reminder thai there is at cast As much risk in not paying attention to the surprising things communists Are saying these Days As in too naively supposing that the words already equal a change. All the current questions about where East West rela Tion Are going would have had to be put Back to Square one if Gorbachev had proved to be desperately ill by Accident or hostile design. The importance of his vigorous rape Francc is of itself a Concrete sign that his policies already matter enormously to the rest of the world. Start however with China which announced some three years ago i a it no longer considered marxism perfect guide with answers to All problems. Now the chinese communist party has declared our greatest mistake since 1949 was leftism. We cannot and will not undertake political campaigns of class  these quotes Are from the chinese communist party s official paper people s daily. They have addition Al weight because they were in it editorial celebrating the 36lh anniversary of the chinese revolution and explaining issues to be decided at the party Congress this month. Since demonstrations by students calling for More democracy last december the chinese have cracked Down on intellectuals who were considered Loo auda Cious and seemed to be backtracking on parts of Deng Xiaoping s Reform program. Bui the new pronounce ment May indicate that these were tactical and that the main thrust of Deng s leadership remains far reaching Reform that challenges the sacred texts of Ide ology. Llu Qili a member or the politburo said at a National Day reception last week in implementing policy and resolving problems we constantly have 10 coun Ter stubborn leftist influence. This old fashioned thinking has influenced people for a Long  he also warned against the right and people s daily called for apposition to Bourgeois liberalism which Means Western political ideas. But prime min ister Zhao Ziyang expected to become the party Leader said the coming Congress would consider political Reform As Well As pushing on the economic front. In the Content of maoism which is still the official Creed his goes a Long Way. Gorbachev who started later has not gone nearly As far but he too ii beginning to nibble at the edges of sacrosanct Dogma and old habits. He said during a tour of Murmansk that the next in months would be a critical transition Tor the soviet Union. It is a revolution without the shots but a deep and serious one he said. You have to keep yourselves in Check comrades and you must not panic. Never. It might be difficult. Sometimes it might be  he is idling his country that in had the right idea with the 1917 revolution whose 70th birthday will be celebrated next month but that in got the practice wrong. Socialism has not yet spread its wings Asil should of said. We have vast potential which is As Cyl  the contrast with the chinese question about class struggle an essential of marxist assumptions 1� Sharp. The idea of class warfare As the key to revolution and the Central conflict Between East and West Between socialism and imperialism is the theoretical basis for communist expansion wid the sense of threat it poses to the Western idea of Freedom. Gorbachev has not put it in doubt but he in t putting it up front either. He is saying that Hii country s troubles come from ils own failings not from some hidden or alien enemy. These Are momentous developments coming at the close of a Century whose greatest tragedies stemmed from ideologies. They suggest thai we arc still focusing on argument that Are outmoded and will be of Little con Cern 10 the generation that will come of age in the next Century. President Reagan keeps talking about How readily East and West would overcame their disputes and learn to cooperate if they had to face Martian or some other extraterrestrial enemies. But the Chance of a shift to awareness of common problems May be nearer and less fictional ecology population development Are already troubles for All. Something is happening and the West must be Alert. . Rosenthal human Rig ifs making Progress in soviet Union sometime soon the soviet Union will release most of its political prisoners. Thai is the expectation in the Reagan administration although Washington has said nothing Public about in yet. On nov. 7 the soviet Union will observe if not celebrate 70 years under communism. The word reaching Washington from Moscow is that the release of about 300 political prisoners will begin around that time possibly even earlier. It has moved from Rumor to likelihood in admins ration opinion. For Mikhail Gorbachev amnesty Tor Many of the prisoners of conscience will mean that he can expect a pleasant reception in the United Stales at the Summit meeting scheduled for later this year for the prisoners and their families in will mean Joy. For those who remain in jail in will mean even More racking despair. For the United states it will present an important Opportunity to push for More and wider human liberties in the soviet Union. The prisoners whose names Are on the amnesty lists Are those condemned under two articles of the soviet criminal code. One is article 227, which is used to punish religious offences such As conducting unauthorized services spreading religious teaching or books and similar inf amies. The other is article 190-1, which deals with the crime of defamation of the soviet Union. Defamation is whatever the Kab decides it is. Article 190-1 is a catch All 10 put away dissidents for three years. If 300 Are released that would account for the majority of prisoners of conscience known to be still in soviet cells. It will not account for those unknown by name in the West. And the prisoners convicted under article 70 will stay in their cells. That article is mostly for those soviet citizens who arouse Kremlin nervousness about the fact that the country is composed of so Many nationalities. Their crime has been to talk or write about their heritage and history. These prisoners Are ukrainians lithuanians and latvians for the most part. They were convicted for distributing forbidden literature bringing up the soviet nazi pact or translating prohibited writings of for Eigners. It is called anti soviet propaganda and the Price is seven years of hard labor abuse starvation daily humiliation followed by five years of penury in internal exile. The convicts Are stubborn men. Sometimes after their release they have to be arrested and sentenced again. There Are about 100 of them. Amnesty of course would leave in place the police state system that made matters of conscience matters of crime in the first place. But it would be greeted hopefully and happily around the world. And it would create a magnificent Opportunity or the West to continue the pressure for human rights in the soviet Union and make it even More effective. The reality of that pressure helped those in the soviet Union who wanted change perhaps Gorbachev himself to argue thai granting controlled liberties and freeing political prisoners was the Way to get world respectability and economic assistance from the West. So Washington is beginning to think of negotiating seriously for one thing the Kremlin want an inter National human rights conference in Moscow. Until now the United Stales has been saying thai the idea was ridiculous unless Moscow was willing to guarantee the right to take part to All soviet citizen at Home or abroad and to All foreigners. Also a guarantee that russians and foreigners could meet talk and mingle anywhere like hotels and private Homey these demands were made to prevent the soviet Union from rigging the meeting and making a mockery of the struggle of soviet citizens who have gone to jail for asking Lor Tome of the rights that the conference was supposed to promote. They Are still valid conditions bul even if the Krem Lin won t Grant them All let s go to Moscow and talk human rights while the world watches and linens. If the russians will not allow All soviet citizens to Lake part freely let the chief american Delegate climb up on a adder in red Square and a so. Let s talk in Moscow out loud about Freedom of emigration religion and speech about Hareas Corpus about ukrainians and baits and about the prisoners of article 70. Maybe All the fuss Wilt Light urn More human rights fires. If Moscow will not allow wider liberties we should know thai. If in is Rady to go further we should know that Loo. There is no belter Way to find out than right in the open and no belter Pla than Moscow