VOA标准英语2008年-Protests Mark Anniversary of Guantanamo Detenti

By Cindy Saine
Washington
11 January 2008

The human rights group Amnesty International staged protests around the world Friday to mark the sixth anniversary of the first arrival of detainees at the U.S. detention¹ center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The group is demanding the prison be shut down. Meanwhile, a U.S. appeals court in Washington has ruled against four British men who allege² they were tortured during their detention at Guantanamo. VOA's Cindy Saine reports from Washington.

Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and other rights organizations used the anniversary to again call on the Bush administration to close down Guantanamo. A crowd of about 100 protesters, many dressed in orange jumpsuits similar to the ones worn by Guantanamo prisoners, gathered in the pouring rain in Washington, D.C. Friday. Larry Cox, the Executive Director of Amnesty International USA said Guantanamo has become a symbol.

"It's become the symbol of everything that's wrong with the U.S. approach to fighting terror and making people safer," said Cox. "It's become a symbol of human rights abuses, it's become the symbol of things which deviate³ so grossly from the values that this country has always upheld that people are horrified⁴ and shocked."

Amnesty also staged protests Friday in the Philippines, Sweden, Paraguay, Bahrain, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Israel.

President Bush and several senior members of his administration have repeatedly said they would like to close Guantanamo down, but there is the question of how to make sure the terrorist suspects detained there do not return to target the United States if handed back to their countries of origin.

Defense⁵ Secretary Robert Gates said last month there has not been much progress in efforts to close the prison down because of legal concerns in Congress.

Amnesty's Larry Cox says his organization has worked out an action plan to close it, which has been endorsed⁶ by lawmakers from 30 countries.

"There is an easy answer to this, which is to shut down Guantanamo, to put people into U.S. detention centers, to charge them if they're guilty of crimes, they should be charged, and to bring them to trial," said Cox. "And to let other people, either go back, if they can, to their countries or to get asylum⁷ in other countries."

Democratic Senator Tom Harkin has introduced legislation that would close the detention center and restore due process to the detainees, but it is not clear if and when it will come to the floor for debate.

Meanwhile, a U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C. has thrown out a lawsuit⁸ filed by four British ex-prisoners who say they were systematically⁹ tortured during their two-year detention at Guantanamo Bay. The four plaintiffs are all British nationals and residents, who were released from Guantanamo in 2004.

The U.S. Supreme¹⁰ Court is currently considering another case that involves other prisoners still at Guantanamo Bay and if they have a right to challenge their confinement¹¹ in U.S. courts.

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 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

3 deviate   

v.(from)背离，偏离

参考例句：

• Don't deviate from major issues.不要偏离主要问题。
• I will never deviate from what I believe to be right.我绝不背离我自信正确的道路。

4 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

5 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。

6 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

9 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

10 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。

11 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。