经济学人230:各国逐渐放弃死刑

 　　Dying out

　　渐失其势

　　Little by little, countries are ditching the death penalty

　　各国逐渐放弃死刑

　　On September 19th Abdul Hamid al-Fakki, a Sudanese, was executed in Saudi Arabia for the crime of “sorcery”. On September 21st Troy Davis, a black man convicted of shooting an off-duty white policeman, was executed in the American state of Georgia. Protests that the evidence against him was flawed proved fruitless.

　　9月19日，苏丹人阿布杜尔·哈米德·阿尔法基在沙特被以“巫术”罪处以死刑。9月21日，黑人特洛伊·达维斯因枪杀一名下班后的白人警察，在美国佐治亚州被处决。此前，曾有人抗议称证据有瑕疵，但未起到作用。

　　Despite these cases the death penalty, on the statute² books since the days of Hammurabi, is disappearing in much of the world. More than two-thirds of countries have done away with it either in law or in practice. The latest is Benin. In August the west African country committed itself to abolishing capital punishment permanently³. The number of countries that carry out judicial⁴ killings⁵ fell from 41 in 1995 to 23 in 2010, according to Amnesty International, a pressure group. China (chiefly), Iran, North Korea, and Yemen accounted for most of the executions. Votes against the death penalty at the UN General Assembly have passed with big and growing majorities since 2007. Capital punishment has virtually gone in Europe (only Belarus still uses it, most recently in 2010). This year China whittled⁶ down its list of crimes punishable by death.

　　尽管出现了这些死刑案例，但这种自汉谟拉比法典即明令在册的刑罚在世界大多数国家都已消失。三分之二以上的国家在法律上或实践中废除了死刑。最新废除死刑的国家是西非国家贝宁。今年8月，贝宁宣布永久废除死刑。根据压力集团“大赦国际”的统计，仍在执行这种法律杀戮的国家从1995年的41个减为2010年的23个。中国（占大部分）、伊朗、朝鲜和也门执行了绝大多数死刑。自2007年以来，每年联大都以绝对且不断增加的多数票通过决议，要求废除死刑。欧洲实际上已经废除了死刑（只有白俄罗斯还保留，最近于2010年执行过）。今年，中国削减了适用死刑的罪名。

　　Yet for all the apparent momentum⁷, capital punishment remains⁸ entrenched⁹ in the Middle East and north Africa, and in parts of Asia, notably¹⁰ China. Jacqueline Macalesher of Penal¹ Reform International, a lobby group, thinks the Arab spring could be a new spur to abolition¹¹, though she worries that executing political enemies may prove attractive in the short run.

　　尽管废死刑的势头很强，但中东、北非与亚洲部分地区仍坚持不愿放弃之。游说组织“刑法改革国际”的杰奎琳·马卡莱舍尔认为，阿拉伯之春可能成为废除死刑的新动力，但她也担心，在短时间内，处决政治对手也可能颇有吸引力。

　　The other big exception is America, where two-thirds of states still have the death penalty. A leading Republican candidate for the presidency¹², Rick Perry, is governor of Texas, the state that uses it most. The state has carried out a record 236 executions in his nearly 11 years as governor. Mr Perry says he loses no sleep over it, and many voters feel the same.

　　美国是另一个例外的主要国家，其三分之二的州仍有死刑。共和党重量级总统候选人里克·佩里是德克萨斯州州长，该州死刑案例最多，在佩里任州长的近11年内共执行了创纪录的236例死刑。佩里表示，他对此并不担心，许多选民也持同样看法。

　　But the abolitionist trend seems inexorable. In March Illinois became the fourth state in four years to scrap¹³ the death penalty. Maryland, Connecticut and California may follow suit. Squeezed state budgets are eroding¹⁴ enthusiasm. The cost of fighting protracted¹⁵ legal battles and maintaining separate facilities for those condemned¹⁶ to death looks increasingly unaffordable when schools and libraries are being closed. California alone has more than 700 people on death row.

　　但废除死刑的趋势看起来不可阻挡。3月，伊利诺伊州成为四年内第四个废除死刑的州。马里兰、康乃狄克与加利福尼亚也可能跟进。地方财政紧缩影响到各州坚持死刑的意愿。目前，因财政紧张，学校与图书馆纷纷关闭。在这种情况下，冗长的诉讼过程以及单独关押被判死刑者所耗费用不赀，显得越来越难以负担。仅加利福尼亚一州，就有700名被判死刑而未决者。

　　Bryan Stevenson, founder¹⁷ of the Equal Justice Initiative, a pressure group that espouses¹⁸ abolition, ascribes increasing unhappiness over the death penalty to a long-term growth in sensitivity to human rights. A growing number mind that the death penalty in America falls disproportionately on blacks and poor people. The chance that innocent folk may be executed counts for more, with many, than the deterrent¹⁹ effect of capital punishment (itself questioned by academic studies). Gruesome details about the mechanics of executions also stoke public disquiet²⁰.

　　支持废除死刑的压力集团“平等司法倡议”创始人拜延·斯蒂文斯表示，长期以来人们对人权的关注度不断增加，因而对死刑的容忍度日趋下降。越来越多的人认为，在美国获死刑者中，黑人与穷人比例过高。许多人对无辜者被错杀的关切也超过了对死刑威慑作用（研究结果对此提出置疑）的认可。执行死刑过程中可怕的细节也增加了公众的不安感。

　　Pressure to get into international clubs has also propelled abolition. The Council of Europe, a Strasbourg-based talking shop that requires members to accede²¹ to the European Convention on Human Rights, has made the death penalty a bar to membership. That (plus other things such as election rigging) has left Belarus’s application with rigor²² mortis.

　　融入国际社会的压力也促进了有关国家废除死刑。设在斯特拉斯堡的清谈组织欧洲委员会要求其成员国加入“欧洲人权公约”，死刑遂成为加入该委员会的障碍。这（以及操纵选举等其它情形）令白俄罗斯加入该委员会的申请决无生机。

1 penal   

adj.刑罚的；刑法上的

参考例句：

• I hope you're familiar with penal code.我希望你们熟悉本州法律规则。
• He underwent nineteen years of penal servitude for theft.他因犯了大窃案受过十九年的苦刑。

2 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

3 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

4 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

5 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

6 whittled   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He whittled a simple toy from the piece of wood. 他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。
• The government's majority has been whittled down to eight. 政府多数票减少到了八票。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

10 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

11 abolition   

n.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They declared for the abolition of slavery.他们声明赞成废除奴隶制度。
• The abolition of the monarchy was part of their price.废除君主制是他们的其中一部分条件。

12 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

13 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

14 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

15 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

17 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

18 espouses   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement; The candidate espouses Republican ideals. 她支持女权运动；这个侯选人支持共和党人的观点。 来自互联网
• Give me a break – every decent company espouses these things! 让我歇歇吧–每一个正规公司都赞成这些！ 来自互联网

19 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

20 disquiet   

n.担心，焦虑

参考例句：

• The disquiet will boil over in the long run.这种不安情绪终有一天会爆发的。
• Her disquiet made us uneasy too.她的忧虑使我们也很不安。

21 accede   

v.应允，同意

参考例句：

• They are ready to accede to our request for further information.我们要是还需要资料，他们乐于随时提供。
• In a word,he will not accede to your proposal in the meeting.总而言之，他不会在会中赞成你的提议。

22 rigor   

n.严酷，严格，严厉

参考例句：

• Their analysis lacks rigor.他们的分析缺乏严谨性。||The crime will be treated with the full rigor of the law.这一罪行会严格依法审理。