2007年VOA标准英语-Guantanamo Anniversary Rekindles Controversy
时间:2019-01-31 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA标准英语(一月)
By Al Pessin
Pentagon
10 January 2007
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the detention 1 center for terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval 2 base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The anniversary is rekindling 3 the debate over the facility, with human rights groups holding demonstrations 4 to call for the center to be closed and the U.S. government defending its policies at the facility. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin reports.
US guard at the military-run Camp Delta prison in Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base
The huge U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay has served many purposes in its more than 100-year history, from refueling navy ships to housing Haitian refugees.
But the September 11 attacks in 2001 began a series of events that would bring a new role to Guantanamo, a role that would make its name world famous, and notorious to many, including human-rights activist 6 Jumana Moussa of Amnesty International.
"The totality of the conditions at Guantanamo amount to cruel, inhuman 7, degrading treatment," said Jumana Moussa.
There have been allegations of mistreatment of detainees at Guantanamo, but fewer in recent years, and U.S. officials say investigations 8 have shown the charges to be false. Officials say they have worked hard to improve living conditions at Guantanamo, and have opened the facility to thousands of visits by reporters, members of congress, and international activists 9. A U.S. law passed last year requires adherence 10 to the Geneva Conventions.
The commander of the detention center is Rear Admiral Harry 11 Harris.
"We are detaining enemies of our nation, terrorists, who were captured on the battlefield or running from the battlefield or providing material support to terrorism," said Admiral Harris. "We are detaining these folks legally, ethically 12, humanely 13 and, importantly, we are detaining them transparently 14."
Jumana Moussa of Amnesty International acknowledges that living conditions at Guantanamo have improved in recent years, but she objects to the open-ended nature of the detention.
"At this point, after five years, going into the sixth year of indefinite detention, if people are not going to be charged and given fair trials, they need to be released," she said.
U.S. officials disagree. Cully Stimson is the assistant secretary of defense 15 for detainee affairs.
"Under the law of war, we are entitled to hold our enemy, as any country is, throughout the duration of the conflict," said Cully Stimson.
U.S. officials say unlike a civilian 16 prison, Guantanamo is not designed for punishment or rehabilitation 17. Rather, they say, its purpose is to keep the enemy combatants from attacking the United States again, and to glean 18 whatever information they can provide.
"What is not allowed, and what is not proper, is for us to magically, mysteriously create out of nothing a right to a trial," he said. "For instance, 'Try them or let them free,' the mantra you hear from the left, when we do not know when the end of the conflict is."
But Stimson says the United States has not only released about 380 detainees from Guantanamo, it is planning to begin military trials for at least some of the 395 from dozens of countries who remain there. The trials will follow a new procedure approved by the Congress last year after the Supreme 19 Court declared the old plan unconstitutional.
The man in charge of the upcoming trials is Brigadier General Thomas Hemingway.
"If the system is allowed to operate, unhindered, it will demonstrate to everybody that it is just as fair a process as you are going to find," said General Hemingway.
Human-rights advocates are not convinced. Jumana Moussa at Amnesty International says the whole system is flawed because defendants 20 will not have sufficient rights in the military trials, and she says that is a problem for the detainees and for the U.S. government.
"If some of the folks who are at Guantanamo are responsible for the things they are alleged 21 to or accused of being involved in, they certainly should be tried," insisted Jumana Moussa. "They need to be held accountable. But it is even more important that they be held accountable in a fair trial whose verdict cannot be questioned."
U.S. officials say the trial procedures will be published next week and they will provide defendants nearly the same rights that U.S. soldiers have in military trials. And General Hemingway believes the system will achieve the standard Jumana Moussa called for.
"With the procedures that the United States congress has established now, working with the administration, we clearly have procedures that are subject to that kind of scrutiny 22, and can withstand that kind of scrutiny," he said.
Scrutiny is one thing Guantanamo has not lacked, and is not likely to lack in the coming years. U.S. military officials say they will continue to operate the Guantanamo detention center for as long as the government needs it. But whether it will have a 10th anniversary, and if so with how many detainees under what status, no one can say.
- He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
- He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。
- He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
- The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。
- There might be a rekindling of the kind of nationalistic fervour of yesteryear. 过去的国家主义狂热可能再次被点燃。 来自互联网
- Bryant and O'Neal on the floor at the same time, rekindling memories both good and bad. 科比和奥尼尔在地板上在同一时间,死灰复燃的回忆有好有坏。 来自互联网
- Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
- The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。
- He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
- The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔,形成了一个三角洲。
- He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
- He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
- We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
- It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。
- His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查,但没有发现什么。
- He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。
- His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
- Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He was well known for his adherence to the rules.他因遵循这些规定而出名。
- The teacher demanded adherence to the rules.老师要求学生们遵守纪律。
- Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
- Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
- Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说,我们没有什么好羞愧的。
- Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。
- Is the primary persona being treated humanely by the product? 该产品对待首要人物角色时是否有人情味? 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
- In any event, China's interest in treating criminals more humanely has limits. 无论如何,中国对更人道地对待罪犯的兴趣有限。 来自互联网
- "Clearly plots,'said Jacques Three. "Transparently!" “显然是搞阴谋,”雅克三号说,“再清楚不过了。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
- All design transparently, convenient for the file identification inside the bag. 全透明设计,方便袋内文件识别。
- The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
- The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
- There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
- He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
- He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
- No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。
- The little information that we could glean about them was largely contradictory.我们能够收集到的有关它们的少量信息大部分是自相矛盾的。
- From what I was able to glean,it appears they don't intend to take any action yet.根据我所收集到的资料分析,他们看来还不打算采取任何行动。
- It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
- He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
- The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
- As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同,被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
- It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
- alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为