2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Rejects UN Criticism of Guantanamo De

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
21 May 2006

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is rejecting criticism from the U.N. Committee Against Torture, which last week called for Washington to close the detention¹ facility at Guantanamo Bay.

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Condoleezza Rice    
  

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration would like to completely shut down the Guantanamo detention facility, as called for by the U.N. report. But, speaking on the NBC television program Meet the Press, she said the U.S. government does not want to act too hastily, and let people go who may be terrorists.

"We do not want to be the world's jailers," said Condoleezza Rice. "But I would ask people to answer the following question, then what do we do with the hundreds of dangerous people there, who are caught on the battlefield, who are known to have connections, who regularly say that if they are released, they are going to go back to killing² Americans? Do you really want those people on the streets?"

Camp Delta³ Cell Block for uncooperative dedtainees  
  
At the same time, Rice said, U.S. authorities have released hundreds of people who had been detained at Guantanamo.

"We have released them to custody⁴ of their own governments, when we can assure that they will not be mistreated, and when we can assure that they will be properly monitored and looked after, so that they cannot commit crimes again," she said.

The U.S. government is currently holding about 460 detainees at Guantanamo, on suspicion of having links to the al-Qaida terrorist network. Of those, more than 100 have been approved for release, and are waiting for their home countries, or other countries, to agree to accept them.

The most recent transfer includes 15 detainees who were sent back to their home country, Saudi Arabia. And, earlier this month, the State Department announced that it had sent five Muslim Uighurs to Albania, rather than to their home country, China, out of fear they could be persecuted⁵. 

Camp Delta Quarters for cooperative detainees  
  
Meanwhile, speaking specifically about the U.N. report, Rice repeated U.S. criticism that the committee members did not go in person to see the facility.

"Guantanamo is a necessity because of the nature of the war on terror, but lots of changes have been made at Guantanamo," noted⁶ Condoleezza Rice. "I only wish the rapporteurs had gone to Guantanamo and actually looked at what was going on there."

The U.N. report was based on interviews with former prisoners and their lawyers. The U.N. investigators⁷ did not accept Washington's invitation to visit Guantanamo, because they would have been denied direct access to prisoners.

Besides calling for the immediate⁸ closure of the Guantanamo facilty, the U.N. Committee Against Torture criticized the indefinite detention of prisoners there. The group also urged the United States to hold accountable all senior military and civilian⁹ officials who authorized¹⁰ or acquiesced¹¹ to acts of torture committed by their subordinates.

The U.N report asks Washington to report on U.S. compliance¹² efforts within one year.
 
 

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 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 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。

10 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

11 acquiesced   

v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Senior government figures must have acquiesced in the cover-up. 政府高级官员必然已经默许掩盖真相。
• After a lot of persuasion,he finally acquiesced. 经过多次劝说，他最终默许了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。