2006年VOA标准英语-Second Trial of Saddam Hussein Resumes

By Deborah Block
Washington
11 September 2006
 
watch Saddam Trial report

The second trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein resumed September 11th in Baghdad.  Saddam and six other defendants¹ are charged in connection with the killing² of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq during a late 1980s government military campaign.  The trial was postponed³ after just three days of testimony⁴ last month. 

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Several Kurds already had testified about the horrors they saw in their villages during what is known as the Anfal campaign.  Saddam Hussein says he launched the offensive to stamp out Kurdish guerrillas who were helping⁵ Iranian forces in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war.  But eyewitnesses⁶ told the court military planes attacked entire villages with chemical weapons and helicopters bombed civilians⁷ who fled into the hills.

Eyewitnesses are testifying at Saddam Hussein's trial    
  
"My five children lost their sight and they were unable to see anything,” said a Kurdish mother testifying in the first days of the trial.

The prosecution⁸ alleges⁹ up to 180,000 civilians were killed.  Saddam and the six other defendants, mostly former military, are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.   The former Iraqi leader and his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, also are charged with genocide. Al-Majid is also known as Chemical Ali for the use of poison gas.  He allegedly organized the attacks.

 
Saddam Hussein, Aug. 21, 2006
  
The Iraqi High Tribunal is hearing the testimony. The court was set up by the interim¹⁰ government and is following international criminal law. The court tried Saddam and seven different defendants earlier for the killing of 148 Shiites in Dujail, north of Baghad, in 1982. A verdict is expected October 16th.

Some critics say the tribunals may not be fair because the judges are Iraqis.  But Catholic University law professor Michael Noone thinks the Saddam trials have been just so far.

Michael Noone   
  
"I think that the general consensus¹¹ is at the working level, at the practical level: he's being treated fairly by the judges that are involved in it."

The private U.S. research group Human Rights Watch says an international tribunal set up by the United Nations should have held the trials.  Joe Stork¹² is the group's deputy Middle East director in Washington.   He says the Iraqi trials are not fair because the judges are not familiar with international criminal law.   

 
Joe Stork
  
"We are quite confident in saying that there is no way that this trial, without some major changes, that this tribunal can deliver fair justice in this genocide case," says Mr. Stork.

Attorney Ruth Wedgwood is an international law professor at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington.  She thinks an international tribunal would not be as effective.

"The trial has an Iraqi face and Iraqi people are fulfilling all the roles.  But if anything, I think locally this would be seen as having more credibility than would an international trial."

She says genocide is difficult to prove.  But she thinks the prosecution will show Saddam killed people during the Anfal campaign because they were Kurds.

Ruth Wedgewood  
  
"It was such a brutal¹³ campaign," says Ms. Wedgewood. “He had problems with the Kurds who wanted political autonomy, that he was so indiscriminate in his methods of killing."

Law professor Michael Noone says most countries have laws in place that specify¹⁴ punishments for particular crimes.  But punishments are left up to the judges in the Iraqi High Tribunal. They can range from fines and imprisonment¹⁵ to death.

"So if Saddam is charged with murder, it is up to the judge to decide which one of those punishments the judge wants," Noone tells us.

The Anfal trial is likely to take months.  Prosecutors¹⁶ plan to bring up to 75 witnesses and extensive documents from the Saddam regime, as well as evidence from mass graves.

1 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

9 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

10 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

11 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

12 stork   

n.鹳

参考例句：

• A Fox invited a long-beaked Stork to have dinner with him.狐狸请长嘴鹳同他一起吃饭。
• He is very glad that his wife's going to get a visit from the stork.他为她的妻子将获得参观鹳鸟的机会感到非常高兴。

13 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

14 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

15 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

16 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。