英国卫报:绑架为何成了一门生意(6)

Through the debates and policy changes, the K&R industry not only survived but thrived.

经过辩论和政策的变化，绑架和赎金行业不仅存活了下来，而且繁荣了起来。

Then came September 11 2001, which changed the terms of the whole discussion.

然后2001年9月11日来临，这一天改变了整个讨论的条件。

Rather than challenging the K&R industry as a whole, governments increasingly sought to draw a clearer distinction between criminal groups,

政府没有挑战整体的绑架和赎金行业，而是越来越多地寻求在犯罪集团和恐怖组织之间划清界限，

to whom ransom¹ could legally be paid, and terror groups, to whom it could not.

赎金可以合法支付给犯罪集团，而不能支付给恐怖组织。

The US and UK governments both maintained lists of Foreign Terrorist Organizations who could not receive ransom payments.

美国和英国政府仍然维持着不能接受赎金的国外恐怖组织的名单。

In industry parlance², these groups were designated as “proscribed”.

按照业界的说法，这些组织被指定为“被禁止的”。

This attempt to draw distinctions between criminal and terrorist organisations raised many tricky³ questions.

在犯罪组织和恐怖组织之间划清界限的尝试引起了很多棘手的问题。

It was clear that K&R policies could not reimburse⁴ policyholders who paid a ransom to a terrorist group.

很明显，绑架和赎金保险不会补偿那些向恐怖组织支付赎金的投保人。

But could security consultants⁵ handle negotiations⁶? Could they help families to raise and assemble the funds?

但是安保顾问可以处理谈判吗？他们能帮助家庭收集和筹集资金吗？

And what about the families themselves? Would they be held legally liable for paying ransom to terrorists?

这些家庭自身呢？他们会因为向恐怖分子支付赎金而承担法律责任吗？

“It’s all a grey area,” Milne acknowledged.

米尔恩承认，“这都是灰色地带。”

Further complicating⁷ the process is the fact that kidnappers⁸ often try to hide their identity.

使这个过程更复杂的是，绑架者通常会隐藏他们的身份。

Hostage negotiators told me that some terror groups pretend to be criminal organisations so they can collect ransoms⁹.

人质谈判专家告诉我，一些恐怖组织假装是犯罪组织，这样他们就可以收集赎金。

The opposite also occurs. Criminal groups who are ignorant of the legal prohibitions¹⁰ sometimes pretend to be terror organisations

相反的情况也会发生。不知道法律禁令的犯罪组织有时会假装成恐怖组织，

in the hopes that the fearsome reputation of these groups will push negotiations along.

希望恐怖组织可怕的名声会推动谈判。

Under the law, the onus¹¹ is on the insurance company to demonstrate that kidnappers are “proscribed” in order to invalidate the policy.

在法律之下，为了使该政策无效，保险公司有责任证明绑匪是被“禁止”的。

Negotiators working for the victim’s family would sometimes refrain from asking obvious questions about the group holding the hostage.

为受害者家庭工作的谈判者有时会避免问挟持人质的组织一些明显的问题。

They simply preferred not to know.

他们仅仅是假装不知道。

 

1 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

2 parlance   

n.说法；语调

参考例句：

• The term "meta directory" came into industry parlance two years ago.两年前，商业界开始用“元目录”这个术语。
• The phrase is common diplomatic parlance for spying.这种说法是指代间谍行为的常用外交辞令。

3 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

4 reimburse   

v.补偿，付还

参考例句：

• We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
• The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。

5 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

8 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 ransoms   

付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The kidnappers exacted ransoms for their hostages. 绑匪勒索人质的赎金。
• Hotel:Wealthy captives sleep at the hotel for an increase in their ransoms. 酒店：富有的俘虏们要住在酒店等待足够的赎金以回家。

10 prohibitions   

禁令，禁律( prohibition的名词复数 )； 禁酒； 禁例

参考例句：

• Nowadays NO PARKING is the most ubiquitous of prohibitions. 今天，“NO PARKING”（禁止停车），几乎成了到处可见的禁止用语了。
• Inappropriate, excessive or capricious administration of aversive stimulation has led to scandals, lawsuits and prohibitions. 不恰当的、过度的或随意滥用厌恶性刺激会引起人们的反感、控告与抵制。

11 onus   

n.负担；责任

参考例句：

• The onus is on government departments to show cause why information cannot bedisclosed.政府部门有责任说明不能把信息公开的理由。
• The onus of proof lies with you.你有责任提供证据。