Correspondents' Correspondence

...Good photo opportunity Israelis happy visit is coming to end without incident, everyone in good mood Hardly realize it was PR flop because in beautiful green, flowering, sun-filled Galilee of this mild winter it is impossible to imagine the tense, dangerous nights of PLO and Syrian shell-mgs For true atmosphere one should go to shell-pocked South Lebanon But the Senator can not go there American entourage happy the Senator did not go places or say things he "should not " Hardly realize they wasted the American taxpayers' money by preventing Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee from seeing what he really should have seen So much for my notes on an American VIP's typical fact-finding trip here It all leaves one wondering what happened to the ideal of full disclosure in the American policy-making process How is Congress to discuss the impact of foreign investments if the Federal authorities refuse to provide information about Arab transactions and investments...

...ELIAHU SALPETER Indian Justice NEW DELHI—The Supreme Court here has decreed that the law allowing the state to make prevenme arrests ot citizens does not violate the Constitution, vet at the same time stipulated certain safeguards concerning its application The court thus soughi to sugar-coat a bitter pill...

...Correspondents' Correspondence BRIEF TAKEOUTS OF MORE THAN PERSONAL INTEREST FROM LETTERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE EDITORS American Visitor TEL AVIV—AS IS usual with American VIPs visiting Israel who are under State Department and U S Embassy instructions, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Charles Percy's recent trip here was planned in a way that made sure his feet would not touch the West Bank or the Golan Heights, let alone the Christian enclave in South Lebanon Glimpses of forbidden territories could be gained, at most, from a helicopter above or through binoculars from observation points below That is not the best way to gain firsthand information, of course, and the whole awkward exercise produced the following in a reporter's notebook Percy ready to enter South Lebanon to examine at close range one of potential flash-points of Middle East But his aides, briefed by the Embassy, say NO At transit point in the Good Fence between Israel and South Lebanon, huge crowd of Israeli and foreign newsmen and photographers Senator smiling for pictures Aides and Embassy staff rather nervous Suddenly Major Sa'ad Hadad, commander of the Lebanese Christian forces, emerges from a car coming from other side Senator's aides panic Major approaches bus occupied by Percy and entourage Aides scream hysterically, order security officer to slam door in face of Major Lebanese officer furious, jumps into car, drives off Israeli officials highly embarrassed Deputy Foreign Minister Yehuda Ben Meir, escorting Percy, explains that Major Hadad is deeply insulted Could be mollified by senatorial handshake at one of the upcoming stops Percy, the very soul of a gentleman all along, agrees Senator's aides frantically explain handshake could undermine entire U S policy in Middle East Senator would not want to do that Cancels scheduled handshake Convoy departs for less controversial terrain of the northwestern resort town of Nahari-yah Israelis continue to show Senator every spot where Syrian or PLO shells fell "Here a lather of five was missed by five inches There a lather of three was not We'll meet with his widow later This is the hospital rocketed bv Syrians " Senator listens solemnly, nods solemnly kisses baby, pats children, hugs pretty teacher at local school Good photo opportunities Lunch at local hotel Meets wife of hotel manager, a Hungarian-born refugee ("Zaza Ga-bor, I presume...

...What department other than State would dare tell a Senator whom to speak to and whom not...

...How are Congressmen supposed to understand problems of Palestinian autonomy if they are forbidden to enter the West Bank and talk freely to local people9 How can Senators debate the Lebanese crisis if they are forbidden to meet one of the main figures involved...

...Significantly, two ot the judges dissented trom the majority judgment, delivered by Chief Justice Y V Chandrachud Several petitions had been filed challenging the ordinance Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's government originally issued m 1980 as well as the National Security Act that subsequently replaced it The Court found that since Article 21 of the Constitution says, "No person shall be deprived of his hfe or liberty according to procedure established by law," preventive detention was valid because it was prescribed in an act that had been passed by Parliament This is certainly a Catch-22 situation, if ever there was one' The only restnctions the Court has now mandated in favor of potential detainees is that concepts like the "defense and security of India" and relations with foreign powers" be more clearly defined before a person can be held without trial for posing a threat under such provisions As the experience in the national emergency that Mrs Gandhi imposed between 1975-77 demonstrated only too vividly, anyone could be held under the vague grounds that the law itself provides Thousands of people were held at the time, and it is feared that Mrs Gandhi may seek recourse to similar draconian measures if she again finds the going difficult For the badly fragmented and debilitated opposition parties are showing signs, however feeble, of coming together on a common platform to oppose her government The Prime Minister's credentials as a democrat have always been in serious doubt, and that doubt has been heightened by her government's failure to set up an advisory board to approve detentions within two months of a person's being held The two dissenting judges made a pointed reference to this glaring lapse So far, it is true, except for a few troublesome trade unionists, Mrs Gandhi has not held anyone without trial since she came back to power in 1980 But the National Security Act hands her tremendous powers Moreover, there is no reason why the government cannot rely on the ordinary laws of the land to deal with "offenders ' —DARRYL D'MONTE Toxic Time Bombs AMSTERDAM—Global responsibility for dealing with the threat posed by industrial waste chemicals has recently been assigned to the European regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) As a first step toward developing universally accepted procedures for coping with potentially lethal toxic accidents, WHO several weeks ago convened a group of specialists from 17 countries in Holland The choice of the meeting site was appropriate, for Holland is working toward a master plan to defuse its toxic time bombs Hundreds of drums of chemical waste products capable of causing severe neurological disorders in adults and deformities in unborn children have been removed from a vast swampy ground serving this city as an overflow dump Public health authorities believe that 50,000 other drums may still he buried in national waste grounds, posing an inestimable threat to nearby population centers and necessitating the shifting of perhaps a million truckloads of rubbish before the last corroding vessel is safely removed The Department of the Environment in The Hague has built up files on more than 300 such chemical poison dumps all over this small and densely populated country Action on the part of Dutch officials was tnggered by the public outcry over the compulsory evacuation late in 1980 of a Rotterdam suburb threatened by a poison spillage This led to long-delayed legislative measures for controlling dumping Further, it stirred debate over toxic waste policies in general, highlighting the absence of a satisfactory technology for the safe handling?let alone disposal—of many perilous industrial by-products Early estimates of cleanup costs range around $500 million, but the eventual scope of the operation is certain to be far greater than anything the Dutch have yet envisaged The incentive is nonetheless keen The Dutch have the tragic example of environmental horrors like the one five years ago in Love Canal, near Niagara Falls, caused by the leakage of thousands of buned, poison-filled containers Many chemical concerns in Europe, North America and Japan are looking at the Third World as a potential destination for wastes too expensive—both politically and economically—to store ar home According to Earthscan, the UN's information unit in London, some "Third World countries may be tempted by the big money involved to risk the environment, health and perhaps even the lives of their citizens " With the support of most industrialized nations, the UN Environment Program has resolved that those importing potentially harmful chemicals should be made fully aware of what they are getting In addition, the agency has now established a global register of toxins to serve as a central source of data on the 60,000 substances currently in common use and the 1,000 new ones developed with every passing year But disposal of present waste is only part of the problem, a small part when the likely future effects of modern chemical wastes escaping into the biosphere are considered One controversial Dutch proposal, known as Project Vaz Dias, would create a waste disposal industry catering to the Benelux region Focusing essentially on the recycling of harmful substances, this project would also permanently store what could not be safely used given today's state of the art These "hot" wastes would be kept in secure and replaceable containers under constant supervision, perhaps on artificial islands built in the shallow parts of the North Sea Although Dutch officials have questioned the economic viability of the undertaking, they are unlikely to produce a safer solution Meanwhile, the European Community as a whole has already accepted the principle that waste management should be turned into a big business, making it probable that Project Vaz Dias will become a reality in the very near future Holland's neighbors dare no longer delay the daunting task of defusing their own corroding chemical time bombs ?THOMAS LAND...