2006年VOA标准英语-Review Boards Resume for Guantanamo Detain

By Al Pessin
Guantanamo Bay
01 February 2006
 
This week, the U.S. military is starting a second round of hearings at the Guantanamo detention¹ center to determine whether any of the detainees can be released or transferred to the custody² of their home countries.  Officials say last year's first round of Administrative³ Review Boards determined⁴ that of the 496 men held at Guantanamo, 14 can be released and another 113 can be transferred to their home countries.  Thirty more cases are pending⁵, and the boards determined that the rest of the detainees should continue to be held.  VOA's Al Pessin visited the Guantanamo detention center and discussed the review process with the U.S. Navy officer in charge.

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"This building, designated Building Seven, this is where we hold the Administrative Review Boards," Captain Pat Salsman says.
 

 

Sign at entrance of Camp Delta⁶, Guantanamo  
  

Captain Salsman, commander of the unit that conducts the Review Boards is taking reporters on a tour between the two high fences topped with rings of razor wire that form the perimeter⁷ of the Camp Delta detention center.

"The detainee is in the center chair.  Of course you see next to his foot there is a shackle⁸ there on the deck [floor].   And depending on their compliancy, they may or may not be shackled⁹ to the deck there," Captain Salsman says.
"And on either side, on this side here is the linguist¹⁰, who will do the translation [and] on the far side is the assisting military officer."

That officer's job is to explain the process to the detainee.  But there is no defense¹¹ lawyer, and not exactly a prosecutor¹² either, although another officer presents the evidence against the detainee.  The detainee has a chance to make a statement and then he is removed from the hearing room so classified evidence can be presented.  Only about half of the detainees choose to attend their Review Board sessions at all.  

Seats for board members   
  
The board of three senior U.S. military officers makes a recommendation, which then goes to the deputy secretary of defense in Washington for a final decision.  The options are release, transfer to custody in their home country, or continue to detain.

"The obligation is to take the information we have and determine, 'Is this person still a threat?'  We go on what we have in the different assessments¹³ from the different organizations, if the individual chooses to come to the Board, what the individual says, the statement they make, and we have to weigh that the best we can," Captain Salsman says.

Camp Delta cell block for uncooperative detainees  
  
This process is done for all the detainees every year, and is separate from the military commissions that are beginning to hold trials for detainees who have been accused of war crimes.  Thirteen detainees have been charged, and the U.S. Supreme¹⁴ Court is reviewing the constitutionality of the process.

But at the Administrative Review boards, Captain Salsman says, there is usually a lot of evidence related to each detainee's background.

"One thing taken alone is not necessarily going to make the difference in the individual being determined to be a medium threat value or a high-threat value," he says.  "There is so much information we have, generally if a person is determined to be a high threat there is a bunch of other information from other agencies.  What I am saying is we will not base it just on that one piece of information."

The officers on the board are not judges or lawyers.  Captain Salsman says they use their command experience to weigh the evidence as fairly as they can.

But human rights lawyers say the whole process is unfair and illegal. 

"We are giving them these kinds of proceedings¹⁵ that are incredibly unfair," Attorney Barbara Olshansky says.

Attorney Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York represents more than 200 of the Guantanamo detainees.

"This gets to a very interesting strategy that the government has, which is to call the war on terror a 'war,' and yet not agree to apply the laws of war, the Geneva Conventions, to the people they arrest," she says.

Olshansky says the vast majority of Guantanamo detainees are innocent.  And while she welcomes the decision to release or transfer 127 of them, she says the process continues to keep many men in long-term detention for insufficient¹⁶ reasons and without any legitimate¹⁷ legal process.

"It is not like we do not have tools to address terrorism.  We arrest people for terrorism and then we seek to have them extradited to the United States," Ms. Olshansky says.  "We have done that for years.  And we are very successful at prosecuting¹⁸ them.  The president has decided¹⁹ he does not like having to use those channels and so now we are creating something that means he can bypass both law enforcement requirements and the laws of war.  And that is what is so disturbing.  It is outside of any legal framework."

Captain Salsman, who runs the Administrative Review Boards, takes the opposite view.  He says the detainees are getting more opportunities to be released than they would have had in past conflicts.

"It is unprecedented²⁰.  In previous wars, of course this is an unconventional war, but [in] previous wars when a country takes captives generally they are held until the cessation of hostilities²¹ and arrangements are made to trade," he says.  "In this case, this unconventional war, it is still ongoing²², but it is an opportunity for these individuals to return to their home country during the hostilities going on.  It is unprecedented, to my knowledge, and it is not required by the Geneva Convention or laws of war."

The captain says the review process makes the Board officers face some difficult decisions.

"As far as releasing a suicide bomber²³, for example, I know there are some cases of people returning to the battlefield.  You cannot predict that," Captain Salsman says.

Last year's Administrative Review Boards will leave between 303 and 333 detainees at Guantanamo, depending on the outcome of the 30 cases still not decided.  But many of the men designated for release or transfer may need to stay at the detention center for many more months, even years. 

Once the decisions are made, it is up to the State Department to work with the detainees' home countries to arrange for their release or transfer.  That process has proved to be slow in some cases, leaving at least nine detainees approved for release through other channels more than a year ago still behind the barbed wire.  

1 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。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

6 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• 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。

7 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

8 shackle   

n.桎梏，束缚物；v.加桎梏，加枷锁，束缚

参考例句：

• He's too young to shackle himself with the responsibilities of a family.他还太年轻，不能用家庭责任来束缚自己。
• This issue always is a shackle which confines the brand building of industry product.这个问题一直是限制工业品品牌塑造的桎梏。

9 shackled   

给（某人）带上手铐或脚镣( shackle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The hostage had been shackled to a radiator. 当时人质被铐在暖气片上。
• He was shackled and in darkness of torment. 他被困在黑暗中备受煎熬。

10 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• 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。

12 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

13 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• 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。

15 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

16 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

17 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

18 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

19 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

20 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

21 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

22 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

23 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。