Red Cross Warned Bush Administration of Widespread Mistreatm

（单词翻译）

Roger Wilkison

A confidential¹ report by the International Committee of the Red Cross says its officials saw U.S. troops in Iraq mistreat prisoners under interrogation and warned the Bush administration earlier this year that such abuse was widespread. The Red Cross has confirmed that the leaked report, which appeared on the website of The Wall Street Journal newspaper, is authentic².

The 24-page report, based on inspections⁴ and interviews conducted by Red Cross officials at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and other detention⁵ facilities last year, was submitted to the U.S. government in February.

It notes that mistreatment of prisoners in the custody⁶ of U.S. military intelligence in Iraq was part of a pattern and not the result of individual acts. It says that, in some cases, such abuse was, in its words "tantamount to torture." But it clarifies that systematic⁷ ill-treatment under interrogation was limited to detainees suspected of security offenses⁸ or those deemed to have an intelligence value.

President Bush has said the mistreatment was the wrongdoing of a few soldiers, but the Red Cross report says its officials witnessed and documented a variety of methods used by interrogators to secure the cooperation of the prisoners.

The report says one practice used by guards at Abu Ghraib was to keep prisoners naked in empty cells and in total darkness. The report quotes the military intelligence officer in charge of interrogating¹⁰ prisoners there as saying that this practice was, in his words, "part of the process."

The Red Cross report says prisoners were subjected to harsh treatment as part of an effort by intelligence officers to obtain confessions¹² and extract information from them. It says Red Cross officials found evidence supporting prisoners' allegations of abuse, such as burns, bruises¹⁴ and other injuries.

The report also alleges¹⁶ that British troops in the southern Iraqi city of Basra beat one prisoner to death and documents eight instances in which unnamed coalition¹⁷ forces opened fire - in some cases, from watchtowers - on unarmed prisoners who were rioting or trying to escape, killing¹⁸ seven of them. It says the coalition determined¹⁹, after investigating those incidents, that its soldiers had acted properly.

Two-months after the last Red Cross visit detailed²⁰ in the report, pictures were taken of U.S. troops abusing prisoners. Those pictures appeared in news media late last month, causing international outrage²¹ and prompting apologies by President Bush and other top U.S. officials. Criminal charges have now been filed against seven U.S. soldiers.
注释：
confidential [kCnfi5denFEl] adj. 机密的
International Committee of the Red Cross  国际红十字会
interrogation [in7terE5^eiFEn] n. 审问
Wall Street Journal 《华尔街日报》
authentic [C:5Wentik] adj. 可信的
inspection³ [in5spekFEn] n. 检查
detention [di5tenFEn] n. 拘留
submit [sEb5mit] vt. 提交，递交
custody [5kQstEdi] n. 拘留
military intelligence  军事情报
tantamount [5tAntEmaunt] adj. 等价的
clarify [5klArifai] v. 阐明
detainee [7di:tei5ni:] n. 被拘留者
interrogator⁹ [in5terE^eitE] n. 审问者
subject [5sQbdVikt] vt. 使屈从于……
harsh [hB:F] adj. 残酷的，苛刻的
confession¹¹ [kEn5feFEn] n. 供认，招供
extract [iks5trAkt] vt. 榨取
bruise¹³ [bru:z] n. 伤痕
injury [5indVEri] n. 伤害
allege¹⁵ [E5ledV] vt. 宣称，断言
watchtower [wCtF5tauE] n. 了望塔
riot [5raiEt] v. 骚乱