2007年VOA标准英语-Guantanamo Anniversary Rekindles Controversy

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
10 January 2007

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the detention¹ center for terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval² base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The anniversary is rekindling³ the debate over the facility, with human rights groups holding demonstrations⁴ 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.

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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 activist⁶ Jumana Moussa of Amnesty International.

"The totality of the conditions at Guantanamo amount to cruel, inhuman⁷, 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 investigations⁸ 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 activists⁹. A U.S. law passed last year requires adherence¹⁰ to the Geneva Conventions.

The commander of the detention center is Rear Admiral Harry¹¹ 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, ethically¹², humanely¹³ and, importantly, we are detaining them transparently¹⁴."

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 defense¹⁵ 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 civilian¹⁶ prison, Guantanamo is not designed for punishment or rehabilitation¹⁷. Rather, they say, its purpose is to keep the enemy combatants from attacking the United States again, and to glean¹⁸ 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 Supreme¹⁹ 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 defendants²⁰ 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 alleged²¹ 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 scrutiny²², 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.

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 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• 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。

3 rekindling   

v.使再燃( rekindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• 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

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• 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。

5 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。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• 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。

7 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• 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。

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• 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。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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》

10 adherence   

n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着

参考例句：

• 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。

11 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• 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。

12 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• 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。

13 humanely   

adv.仁慈地；人道地；富人情地；慈悲地

参考例句：

• 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

14 transparently   

明亮地，显然地，易觉察地

参考例句：

• "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。

15 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。

16 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• 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。

17 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• 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。

18 glean   

v.收集(消息、资料、情报等)

参考例句：

• 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。

19 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。

20 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

21 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• 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

22 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。