United States charged in secret evidence shenanigans

It sounds like typical Soviet bureaucracy, pulled right from a Solzenitsyn novel. A man is detained based on secret evidence and given a secret charge he can neither challenge nor confess to. In supposed justification of the ridiculous ruse, the authorities call him a threat to national security. Sadly, this isn't the charade called justice of some communist country or the legal maneuverings of a ruthless dictatorship but rather the supposedly fair American legal process a Palestinian living in Florida faced for three years, beginning with his arrest in 1997 and not ending until his release finally came in December of 2000.
The case in question is that of Dr. Mazen Al Najjar, a Palestinian national working as a college professor in Florida at the time of his arrest. There isn't much to tell about the case, because there isn't much to it. Najjar was suspected of being a terrorist, arrested and held for three years on 'secret evidence.' It really is as absurd as it sounds. We condemn non-Western countries, notably Iraq, for using secret evidence with the alleged purpose of protecting national security during trials and then do the same thing ourselves, flouting international law and the standards of our allies within the global community.
While testifying before the House Judiciary Committee during a review of the bill allowing secret evidence in cases involving foreigners, American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Gregory T. Nojeim summed it up well in saying, "Jailing someone on the basis of secret evidence goes against every principle of justice and fairness in our American legal system. How can you defend yourself if the government refuses to tell you what you are accused of?"
The Najjar case, while exposing the frightening concept of secret evidence in American justice, also calls attention to the United States' growing trend of denying foreign nationals due process as defined by international law. The most common violation is denying suspects the right to immediate consular assistance, which has occurred in numerous trials that have resulted in capital convictions. Recently, Germany brought charges against the United States in International Court for denying two German citizens this fundamental right. The two men never received a fair trial and were eventually executed.
In fact, there are currently more than 80 foreign citizens from over 30 different countries on death row in the U.S. According to Amnesty International's report Worlds Apart, U.S. authorities violated the Geneva Convention in almost every case by failing to immediately inform those arrested of their consular rights.
Fortunately, efforts have already been made to repeal the law that allows these affronts to justice. Several congressional representatives from both parties are looking to repeal the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which allows for secret evidence to be used to deport, deny asylum or refuse bond in cases involving non-citizens. The bill would apply to pending cases as well. It's hard to believe that something so plainly absurd as the use of secret evidence would be allowed to take place in the U.S., but it has. The fact that our government has killed people based on the results of an unfair trial is simply appalling. But as Amnesty International explains regarding the title of its recent press release exposing the problems, when it comes to human rights and international law, the United States is simply worlds apart.