European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 31, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday May 31, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13commentary Anthony Lewis terrorist Bill packed with dangerous ideas Kuwait a trials of supposed collaborators Are travesties by Western standards of Law. The defendants Vivere not confronted with any evidence against them and their attorneys had no Chance to question witnesses. An american Diplomat said the convicted men were nothing like that could happen in the United states could it a of yes it could. The Bush administration has introduced legislation to create a system of secret trials secret evidence and secret decisions. The proposal is billed As a Way to Deport aliens who the government says have engaged in1 it is worded so broadly that it could be used against political activists a an irishman for instance who opposes British Rule in Northern ire land. And the person accused might never know exactly what he is accused of. The legislation 40 pages Long was sent up As part of the administrations massive crime Bill. It has had Little attention so far. But before Long members of Congress will surely begin to notice such a Radical proposal a a break with 200 years of american constitutional tradition and Law. The proposal would apply to All aliens including permanent residents who have lived Here legally for years. Here is How it would work the. Justice department would file an application with a special new court to hold a secret deportation hearing. The application itself would be secret. The alien would receive no notice of the proceeding. And the Justice department could immediately take him into detention. The court would decide whether there was probable cause to hold a a special removal it would make that decision based on the governments papers with nothing heard from the defendant or his attorney. If a judge denied the application the government could Appeal a secretly. At a a special removal hearing a the cd id nce could be withheld in whole or part from the defendant. He May be Given a generalized a a summary of the grounds for seeking his deportation but even that May be withheld at the Justice departments request. When the judge decides the Case any part of his opinion relating to the Undis closed evidence would be kept from the defendant. The alien would have the right to Appeal but Only to a Federal court that deals mainly with Patent and trademark cases and again without Access to the evidence. The Bill uses a Loose definition of a terrorist organizations a including any that have Ever committed violence in the past or that might do so in the future. It would thus allow the government summarily to Deport people who have done for exam pie no More than raise Money for the african National Congress of South Africa. After the secret trial moreover the government would be free to Send the alien anywhere a without the usual Legal restriction against sending him to a coun try where his life might be in danger. Thus a chinese student opposed to Tulve chinese regime could be sent Back to China for All he knows on evidence supplied by the chinese government. In fact the a a terrorist Label for this Bill seems to be a cover for something else. For years the Justice department has been trying to get the Power to Deport aliens without producing evidence. Could hardly prove that without knowing what the charge was. The most surprising thing about this legislation in a , is its sponsorship by attorney general Dick Thornburgh. During a visit to Harvard last week Thornburgh said America s most valuable Export to the world should be a the Rule of he said the United states had an important role in helping other countries the department has been singularly develop democratic institutions unsuccessful in persuading the courts to. Allow deportation without due process. Douglas Ginsburg a conservative judge on the . Court of appeals for the District of Columbia said in rejecting it that the idea smacked of Kafka. Even someone innocent of All wrongdoing he said Quot shame on us a Thornburgh said Quot if we fail to take full advantage of this magnificent Opportunity a truly to cherish our prior icicles at Home and boldly to Export them did he mean Export what we say not what we do c the now York to Moa James j. Kilpatrick education curriculum raises Tough questions Lynne v. Cheney is getting to but a hard for educationists to live with. Last november this troublemaking woman blasted the whole educational establishment for its a a tyranny in producing miserable textbooks. Now she has further embarrassed the establishment by inquiring into the testing of High school students abroad. What will she do to discomfort us next Cheney for the record is Chai Maii of the National endowment for the humanities. A few Days ago she released without comment the texts of examinations Given to students in France Germany England Japan and the european Community. Her silence spoke louder than words. Without rubbing it in the chairman made the Point that americans Young people will grow o adult Pood in a world of International Competition. They will face a much higher level of intellectual demands than we have known before. In England by Way of example All 16-year-Olds our loth graders take a general examination on their academic achievements. Then about half of them begin a two year College preparatory program the equivalent of our 11th and 12th grades leading to a second examination when the students Are 18. By Way of example England a 16-year-Olds May be asked to answer questions about the Gunpowder plot if it was a plot of 1605. A comparable question for our 16-year-Olds might Deal with the treason if it was treason of Aaron Burr. The questions cannot be answered by guessing at multiple Choice selections or by marking True or false. These loth graders have to look critically at conflicting evidence. The student in England who is College bound takes the second examination two years later. Some questions Deal with . History. Try these for size a Quot Why and with what justification is the presidential election of 1800 spoken of As a a revolution a v a a assess the extent and significance of opposition to Western expansion in the pre civil War a a account for the prominence of the Temperance Issue in american politics from 1900 to 1933.�?� would our College bound High school seniors have an equivalent knowledge of British history Over a Span of 200 years Cheney wonders about this. All of us ought to wonder. A or take the examination Given to College bound students in Japan. Here a student is quizzed not Only on japanese history and culture but on the history of England beginning w Ith the Vikings. A typical question deals with Commerce Between France and England in the time of Louis Xiv some questions offer multiple Choice a in the classical period of greek and roman civilizations advanced science and technologies were introduced from other lands. Choose the Correct statement a a a the sumerians developed mathematics particularly the concept of Zero and the Decimal system. A a b the egyptian solar Calendar became of the Julian Calendar. A a c the numbers currently used in the world were invented in the babylonian kingdom. A a d phoenician surveying techniques became a basis of geometry developed in in f Ranee the College bound student May be examined in russian literature. A moderately difficult tics lion asks for an essay contrasting presidential Power As it has been exercised by . Presidents since Truman. Yet another question deals with debt management in the third world. A a German student May be tested on Quot the role and significance of Robespierre in the French Cheney a purpose in releasing this sobering comparison is to promote National achievement testing Here at Home. She believes this can be done without resort to a nationally prescribed curriculum a something most conservatives would fiercely resist. She also believes a Standard test can be put together fairly for All students and not merely for those going on to College. A All of this amounts to a tall order but if 18-year-Olds abroad can handle Tough questions our own Young people had better be prepared to handle equally Tough ones Here at unpn.-. I
