美国国家公共电台 NPR--Examining the executive order trying to help Americans unlawfully detained abroad

Examining the executive order trying to help Americans unlawfully detained abroad

Transcript¹

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Ambassador Roger Carstens, special presidential envoy² for hostage affairs, about the aim of repatriating³ Americans wrongfully detained abroad and those taken hostage.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Biden signed a new executive order this week to try and help Americans who've been unlawfully detained in other countries. The move gives the federal government the authority to impose sanctions or other measures against state or nonstate actors over these detentions⁵. But what happens when Americans are held by countries that are already under strict U.S. sanctions for other issues? I talked with Ambassador Roger Carstens. He is special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. And I asked him how the new executive order helps U.S. citizens like Brittney Griner, who's been jailed in Russia since February, and other detained Americans.

ROGER CARSTENS: I think the best answer is that we're going to have to explore that. Every case is specific. A lot depends on the information that we're receiving. It depends on partnering with the families. And in some cases, you'll find a sanctioning tool probably very effective to put pressure on the other side. In other cases - not so much. I think overall the sanction tool is going to offer a chance to deter⁶ people in the long term when they see it being used. But whether it's going to specifically be the spring that gets Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan free - that is yet to be seen. We'll have to explore that with the families and also with the rest of the interagency.

MARTIN: Let me ask about a situation in Iran or in Russia. I mean, when Americans are held in these countries that are U.S. adversaries⁷, how do they not become political pawns⁸? I mean, when you think about Iran, the U.S. right now is trying to negotiate over Iran's nuclear program. The two have to be intertwined, right? The issue of hostages becomes a leverage⁹ point.

CARSTENS: You know, it might. I can tell you that I think throughout history you'll find where the subject of hostages or even prisoners of war can be detached from the broader issues of policy. A good example is Russia. Even though we seem to be at loggerheads in the Ukraine with - against Russia, we were still able to negotiate a return of Trevor Reed. So it's never quite clear until you get into the specifics of each case and each country about what can and cannot be used as leverage and who can use it. But the bottom line is that we are able and have, since I've been in this job for 2 1/2 years, been able to negotiate and distance ourselves from other policy objectives.

MARTIN: Trevor Reed, as you noted¹⁰, was released from Russia in April of this year. It was part of an arranged prisoner swap¹¹. When do these agreements work, and when do they not work?

CARSTENS: Again, it's really country-specific. I happened to be part of the Trevor Reed swap. I think you might have seen some photography of the tarmac switch, and I was there as part of that and so intimately, I guess, familiar with that swap. And I can tell you that every case is still different. At times a prisoner swap can be considered, such as in the case of Trevor Reed. Other times it's just absolutely the wrong tool to be - and wrong negotiating point to be bringing to bear.

MARTIN: Can you walk us through the difficulties that arise when a country that is supposed to be our ally, like Saudi Arabia, detains U.S. citizens unlawfully?

CARSTENS: I think whether a country is someone that we're, I guess, at loggerheads against or whether we happen to have better relationships with them - really the bottom line is meeting with that country, finding common points that we can discuss and really just sitting down and asking them, what can we do to solve this? And that's really the way to get things done. It's no different than probably any other negotiation¹². But I would say that to most this seems like it's a little harder because in many cases the countries are actually picking up a human being and using them as a bargaining chip.

MARTIN: President Biden was just in Saudi Arabia. He met with the crown prince, Mohammed bin¹³ Salman. There were a whole range of contentious¹⁴ issues on the table. But did he raise the issue of Americans being detained?

CARSTENS: The president did raise the issue of Americans being detained. In fact, I can tell you, we raised the issue at every juncture¹⁵. But I will make one correction. Right now, there are no Americans that are wrongfully detained. There are Americans that were wrongfully detained. Currently, we have Americans that we're concerned about because they're on a - what we consider an exit ban. They're not allowed to leave the country. And yet, at every juncture that we can, at every meeting at the senior level, we bring that topic up.

MARTIN: Diane Foley's son James was killed by ISIS in 2014. Ms. Foley said that her family received little to no information from the State Department about the status of her son when he was in ISIS detention⁴. Other families, as you know, have also complained about lack of transparency, lack of communication with the federal government. I understand this executive order now promises to do better, but why have these families been left in the dark for so long?

CARSTENS: I have to gently push back on that, Rachel, and this is what I would say. I spend one to four hours every day talking to families, and that's seven days a week. That's Saturday and Sunday. I'd say the people on my staff do the same. In these calls, we're very forthright¹⁶ about what we're doing and what we're trying to achieve. Every time we take a case, I will physically¹⁷ fly to wherever that family is and spend three or four hours in their living room, describing what we're trying to do, what our organization looks like, and I will tell them everything up to the level of secret and top-secret information.

MARTIN: Then why did it need to be articulated in the executive order?

CARSTENS: I think it's a - it's the institutionalization of everything we're doing. There was a time, not long ago, shortly after my office was created, that there were only a few people in the office. We did not necessarily have the institutionalized structure that we currently have, that we've been building on. And so to get it in public law, to get it into an executive order, keeps strengthening the institution so that one day, should people change, personnel change, should the situation change, you still have a government that is being directed by public law, that's being directed by the president to do better at sharing information. And I think the one thing that the executive order does to my mind is it gives us a little more, I guess you could say, support in trying to declassify¹⁸ information that we want to share with the families.

MARTIN: You worked under the Trump¹⁹ administration on this issue and now the Biden administration. How do the two administrations differ in their approach to this important issue?

CARSTENS: I think that's the beauty of what we're trying to do in building the institutions, is that there shouldn't really be a difference between administrations as they change. We treat this as an American problem. It's bipartisan, or you could call it nonpartisan. And I think you'll find that not only are we trying to, as I say, come up with ways that we are going to do business, institutionalizing what we do, but I can share that there are members on Capitol Hill that are both Republicans and Democrats²⁰ that offer their support to our efforts. And our job is to make sure that we do the president's will, and the president of the United States, President Biden, has been very firm about making this a top priority and ensuring that we're doing everything we can to bring these Americans home.

MARTIN: Ambassador Roger Carstens, special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, thank you so much for taking the time.

CARSTENS: My pleasure, Rachel.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 repatriating   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Since banks are reducing overall lending, that means repatriating cash. 由于银行总的借贷额在下降，这就意味着资金必然国内回流。 来自互联网
• US immigration officials have again delayed moves start repatriating six-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez. 六岁的古巴海难幸存儿童埃利安非常幸运，美国移民局官员已将原本要遣返他的时间再次拖延。 来自互联网

4 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• 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。

5 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

6 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

7 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

8 pawns   

n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

12 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

13 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

14 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

15 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

16 forthright   

adj.直率的，直截了当的 [同]frank

参考例句：

• It's sometimes difficult to be forthright and not give offence.又直率又不得罪人，这有时很难办到。
• He told me forthright just why he refused to take my side.他直率地告诉我他不肯站在我这一边的原因。

17 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

18 declassify   

v.撤销保密

参考例句：

• These reports were only declassified last year.这些报告去年才被撤销了密级。
• Does the president have the power to declassify information?总统有权利解密相关信息吗？

19 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

20 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》