PBS高端访谈:美国部落法律将会对土著遭受性侵犯做出规定

 　　STEPHEN FEE: Lisa Brunner spent her childhood on and around the White Earth Indian reservation, a huge tract¹ of land in northern Minnesota that's home to around 4-thousand Native Americans like her. Brunner grew up surrounded by domestic violence and since has become a leading advocate for Native victims of abuse.

　　LISA BRUNNER: "It's happening every day."

　　STEPHEN FEE: Native women in the U-S face some of the highest levels of violence of any group. According to the Justice Department, one in three Native women has been raped³. And three out of five will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. Lisa says she too is a victim of rape² and sexual assault. She had enough, she says, when a boyfriend slapped her across the face while she cradled her nine-month-old child.

　　LISA BRUNNER: "And I packed up and left the next day, and I never went back. And I vowed⁴ thereafter that no man will ever touch me again. I will not — my babies will not know the life that I had to survive."

　　STEPHEN FEE: Lisa says that as an adult, she seldom went to the police — and that much of that has to do with the fact that some of the men who attacked her were not Native Americans.

　　STEPHEN FEE: "So why does that matter? Up until recently, non-Native people were immune from prosecution⁵ in tribal⁶ courts. That's crucial for two reasons: one, the Justice Department says non-Native men commit the vast majority of assaults and rapes⁷ against Native women. And two, federal attorneys — who are often the only lawyers who can try non-Natives who commit crimes on reservations — often don't prosecute⁸ them."

　　LISA BRUNNER: "I knew when I had been raped and been victimized and whatnot, I never tried to report it because nothing — I knew nothing would ever happen. I knew nothing would be done"

　　THERESA POULEY: "When you have the combination of the silence that comes from victims who live in fear and a lack of accountability by outside jurisdictions¹⁰ to prosecute that crime, you've created if you will, the perfect storm for domestic violence and sexual assault, which is exactly what all the statistics would sort of bear out."

　　STEPHEN FEE: In a 1978 decision, the U-S Supreme¹¹ Court said Indian tribes with their own tribal justice systems and courts were not allowed to charge non-Indians — unless Congress changed the law. Congress didn't act for 35 years. Then, two years ago, when Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act — the VAWA — lawmakers granted tribal courts jurisdiction⁹ over a limited number of domestic and dating violence crimes committed by non-Indians on reservations. That change took effect in March.

　　STEPHEN FEE: Earlier, three Indian reservations had taken part in a pilot program for those prosecutions¹²: one in Arizona, one in Oregon, and this Indian reservation, the Tulalip Reservation, an hour's drive north of Seattle. Theresa Pouley, who has served as chief judge on the Tulalip Tribal Court since 2009, says the responsibility to prosecute offenders¹³ on Indian reservations belongs to tribal courts.

　　THERESA POULEY: "The confused jurisdiction in Indian country, which leaves those responsibilities oftentimes to the state and federal government, who don't effectively prosecute those crimes, creates this place where you have a category of people on Indian reservations who are essentially¹⁴ above the law."

　　STEPHEN FEE: "What does this tribal provision in VAWA do to help close that gap?"

　　THERESA POULEY: "It allows me to treat all domestic violence perpetrators exactly the same, Indian or non-Indian. So I have authority over Indians who commit that crime. This just gives me authority over non-Indians who commit the exact same crime."

　　STEPHEN FEE: In the past 17 months, the Tulalip tribal prosecutor¹⁵ has brought charges against nine alleged¹⁶ non-Indian domestic violence defendants¹⁷ — five pleaded guilty, two await trial, one was referred to federal prosecutors¹⁸, and one case was dismissed.

　　But will this new authority actually help stop the crisis of violence against Indian women? One concern: the new law only covers domestic and dating violence — it does not include crimes like assault by a stranger or even rape. Michelle Demmert is the Tulalip Tribes' lead attorney.

　　MICHELLE DEMMERT: "Unfortunately it's not quite gone far enough. In just three recent cases, we had children involved, and we're not able to charge on the crimes that were committed against those children including endangerment, criminal endangerment, possibly assault, other attendant or collateral¹⁹ crimes."

　　STEPHEN FEE: "You're able to prosecute one crime but not the other."

　　MICHELLE DEMMERT: "That's right. That's right."

　　STEPHEN FEE: Former U-S Senator Tom Coburn, from Oklahoma, a state with one of the highest Native American populations, co-sponsored the original Violence Against Women Act 20 years ago, and he thinks the change in the law is wrong – that tribes should not be allowed to exert their authority over non-Indians.

　　FMR. SEN. TOM COBURN: "You cannot cast tribal sovereignty on me. I'm not a member of the tribe."

　　STEPHEN FEE: Instead of granting expanded authority to tribal courts, Coburn says, Congress should have required federal prosecutors to take on domestic violence crimes on reservations more vigorously. Coburn also believes the new law could be found unconstitutional.

　　FMR. SEN. TOM COBURN: "There's no way you can assure and guarantee constitutional provisions under what passed. So this provision will eventually be thrown out, be challenged, and on appeal they'll lose, because you cannot guarantee American citizens their constitutional rights if they're non-tribal members in a tribal court."

　　STEPHEN FEE: But the Justice Department's Sam Hirsch says any tribe that proceeds with prosecutions must adhere to a list of Constitutional guarantees laid out in the new law.

　　SAM HIRSCH: "Here's the evidence that it's working: under the pilot project, more than two dozen non-Indians have been charged with domestic violence and dating violence crimes. They all have the right to go straight to federal court and ask to be released if their rights are being violated. And how many have done so? Zero."

　　STEPHEN FEE: "So far?"

　　SAM HIRSCH: "So far."

　　STEPHEN FEE: Hirsch concedes the law is limited — especially because it only covers domestic violence and not more serious crimes— but he says the Justice Department is stepping up its prosecution rate against non-Natives.

　　SAM HIRSCH: "At the same time, we have to recognize that when federal prosecutors and FBI agents are often located hundreds of miles away, many hours' drive away, it's very hard for them to play the role of local law enforcement, especially on misdemeanor level crimes and lower-level felonies."

　　STEPHEN FEE: In the years leading up to the Tulalip Reservation's ability to prosecute non-Indians, Chief Judge Theresa Pouley says she's already seen one mark of success.

　　THERESA POULEY: "The reporting of domestic violence and sexual assault cases have gone up at Tulalip for the last three years steadily²⁰ as victims know that perpetrators will be held accountable — and as they know they're going to be listened or heard, they actually report it more often. So if you just look at the numbers, you sort of see that it changes the level of reporting and that's really the first step towards stopping it."

　　STEPHEN FEE: Back on the White Earth reservation, Lisa Brunner is still concerned about the limitations of the new law — that it doesn't cover crimes like rape. It's especially personal, because she says one of her daughters was raped a few years ago by non-Native men who came on to the reservation.

　　LISA BRUNNER: "Of course they threatened her and she didn't tell me until after the fact. But we did report it to law enforcement and um — that was it."

　　STEPHEN FEE: "Nothing happened after that?"

　　LISA BRUNNER: "No. Nothing."

　　STEPHEN FEE: In the past six months, since Indian tribes obtained the authority to prosecute non-Indian defendants, five tribes have done so and more plan to join them.

1 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

2 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

3 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 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。

6 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

7 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

8 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

9 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

10 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

11 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。

12 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

13 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

14 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

15 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

16 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

17 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

18 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。

19 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

20 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。