VOA常速英语2007年-War Crimes Tribunal Denies Bail to Former Khmer

By Kate Woodsome
Phnom Penh
03 December 2007

A United Nations-backed tribunal formed to hear charges against Cambodia's former Khmer Rouge¹ leaders has denied bail² to the first defendant³ it has seen. As VOA's Kate Woodsome reports from Phnom Penh, the former Khmer Rouge prison chief is one of five defendants⁴ to be tried on charges of committing crimes against humanity.

Kaing Guek Eav, more commonly known as Duch, sat expressionless as the tribunal's Pre-Trial Chamber⁵ announced its decision Monday to deny him bail ahead of his trial next year.

Cambodian Judge Prak Kimson read a long list of reasons to keep Duch behind bars, including concerns for public order and for the defendant's safety during a time of heightened anxiety as the tribunal reviews Khmer Rouge atrocities⁶.

The judge also said Duch has proven he would be a flight risk if released on bail.

"From 1979 to 1999, when he was arrested by the military court, the charged person disappeared from public view. He used unclear addresses and names, and many factors indicate he could take measures again to conceal⁷ his past to avoid being recognized as Duch, the former chairman of S-21," said Judge Prak Kimson.

During the Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979, Duch headed the infamous⁸ S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. At least 14,000 people were tortured there. Only around a dozen are known to have survived.

The tribunal arrested and charged Duch last July. Before that, the 65-year-old sat in a military prison since 1999. His lawyers argued that his eight-year-long confinement⁹ was a violation¹⁰ of his human rights, far longer than the pre-trial detention¹¹ period allowed under Cambodian law.

The investigating judges ruled that the military court's decision to detain Duch is a separate issue from his detention under the tribunal.

Duch is accused of overseeing mass murder, arbitrary detention and torture. The prisoners under his supervision¹² were among nearly two million people killed at the hands of the Khmer Rouge from torture and execution, disease, starvation and exhaustion¹³.

Leader Pol Pot and his black-clad cadres had embarked¹⁴ on a fanatical drive to create a classless, agrarian¹⁵ state. The communist extremists forced almost the entire population into the countryside to toil¹⁶ in the rice fields. They wiped out the monetary¹⁷ system and all remnants of modern Cambodian society.

The decision from the Pre-Trial Chamber Monday stirred relief from victims of the Khmer Rouge, and their families, who gathered in an observation hall at the tribunal headquarters on the outskirts¹⁸ of the capital, Phnom Penh.

Chum Mey, one of the few survivors¹⁹ of S-21, was among them.

The 77-year-old said he was happy with the verdict. He said he had been waiting a long time for his former captor to be detained.

After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Duch became a born-again Christian²⁰ and development worker. He was discovered by journalists in 1999, and admitted to them that he oversaw²¹ the atrocities at the prison. But he insisted he had acted under direct orders from the Khmer Rouge leadership.

The tribunal has arrested and charged four other former Khmer Rouge leaders. The movement's former president, Khieu Samphan, was arrested last month. Also in detention are the former chief ideologue, Nuon Chea, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, central committee member Ieng Thirith. They face charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The defendants are in their 70's and 80's, and all complain of poor health. They had been living freely before their arrests, and the public is concerned they could die, like Pol Pot did, before they are held accountable for one of the worst mass murders in history.

1 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

2 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

3 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

4 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

5 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

6 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

8 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

9 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

10 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

11 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。

12 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

13 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

14 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

15 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

16 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

17 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

18 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

19 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

20 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

21 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网