2007年VOA标准英语-Guantanamo Much Changed Since Terror Attacks on

By Nathan King
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
18 September 2007
 

The U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is surrounded by controversy¹. Suspects in America's war on terrorism are held there, and not only do human rights groups criticize the detentions³, but criticism also is coming from within the Pentagon. Nathan King has more for VOA.

When cameras are allowed into Guantanamo, the military is keen to stress that things have changed from the months just after September 11th, 2001.

This is what is left of Camp X-Ray -- the detention² facility that human rights groups initially⁴ criticized as inhumane.

It is now abandoned and replaced with modern facilities that house state-of-the-art hospitals, classrooms and new cells.

Opposition⁵ now is not so much focused on the conditions at Guantanamo Bay, but on the legal process that terrorist suspects face.

Following U.S. Supreme⁶ Court rulings that rejected the White House's claim that detainees are beyond the reach of U.S. and international law, Bush administration officials put in place a military commission system that allows detainees to challenge the charges against them.

And part of the the plan -- Pentagon lawyers to represent the detainees.

Military lawyers, like Lieutenant⁷ Commander Bill Keubler, work for the U.S. government, but they also are challenging it.  "This is not a court martial⁸ system. This is something that is created for the limited purpose of trying these folks in Guantanamo Bay.  It doesn't meet the standards and criteria⁹ that we employ under our regular courts martial. "

Keubler represented Omar Khadar -- just 15 when he was detained in Afghanistan. Khadar was one of 10 Guantanamo inmates¹⁰ selected to face military commissions for allegedly being an enemy combatant fighting with the Taleban. "The government has consistently said that Guantanamo is justified¹¹ because it holds the worst of the worst and we look at the first 10 detainees that have been charged and they hardly meet that definition."

The Bush administration defends the use of military commissions -- saying all those charged were involved in terrorism. Review board director Captain Gary Haben says, "You'll commonly hear that, 'Well, he was just a foot soldier.' Well, OK, foot soldiers are capable of doing harm."

Haben adds that every detainee's status is reevaluated each year and those who no longer constitute a threat are released. "We have transferred more detainees off the island than we currently hold. We've had almost up to 800 detainees come to the island. Right now we have only 375."

The Bush administration says it is working towards shutting down the detention center at Guantanamo, but that may not be easy. "The Geneva Convention says we are allowed to detain enemy combatants through the hostilities¹² and the requirement is that when the hostilities are over you must release or repatriate¹³ them. However, in this war, there is no end in sight," said Haben.

Former Secretary of State General Colin Powell is among those who contend U.S. civilian¹⁴ courts should handle terrorist suspects. And military attorney Bill Keubler argues that just closing Guantanamo is not enough. He says the whole system of military commissions needs to be scrapped¹⁵.

Haben counters by saying, "Even if they closed Guantanamo and they moved folks to other camps in the U.S. -- in Kansas or South Carolina -- to try them by military commission, it's still the same military commission process, it still has those defects. It still has those flaws. It is still not a regular court."

Critics of the military commissions point to civilian trials of terror suspects like those who were convicted of the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa as evidence that the U.S. federal courts can handle justice when it comes to terrorism. But some in the Bush administration continue to maintain that this new kind of war that the U.S. is fighting in the wake of the September 11th attacks needs a new approach.

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 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。

3 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

4 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 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。

7 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

8 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

9 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

10 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

12 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。

13 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。

14 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。

15 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。