2006年VOA标准英语-Representatives of Deported Pakistani Seek Answ

By Rowan Reid
Johannesburg
14 June 2006

Lawyers representing the family of a Pakistani national deported¹ from South Africa say they will take their case to the International Criminal Court if the government will not reveal where the man was sent. The lawyers accuse the South African government of delivering the man into British custody² for interrogation over his alleged³ links to the Taleban.

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In early November last year, Khalid Rashid was put on a plane at a South African military base and flown out of the country. He had been arrested and accused of being in the country without a visa, but the Pakistani national has not been seen or heard from since, and it was not until his family took the matter to the Pretoria High Court that the Department of Home Affairs was prepared to comment on what had happened to Rashid.

The department said he had been deported to his home country, but Pakistani consular⁴ officials have no record of the man's arrival and say he is not in Pakistan.

A spokesman for the South African government, Joel Netshinshenze, said Pretoria has no right to ask what happened to him once he left the country. "Pakistan has got its own laws and its own procedures, and we believe it is the responsibility of the legal representatives of the family to ensure that they intervene on the Pakistani side to interact with the Pakistani government to establish the facts about this matter," he said.

But the government's account of events is being questioned. One of the pilots who flew Khalid Rashid out of the country has reportedly said the plane landed in Kenya, not Pakistan, as claimed by Home Affairs. The lawyer representing the family alleges⁵ Khalid Rashid was deported at the request of the British government and is being held and interrogated⁶ at a secret location because he was a known member of Afghanistan's Taleban.

Rashid's family lawyer, Zehir Omar, argues South Africa's government violated its own laws by failing to allow the accused to seek legal counsel before he was deported. He says the government has also violated international laws against enforced deportation⁷.

"We are a young democracy, less than 15 years old," said the lawyer. "It is the duty of the international criminal court of justice and the United Nations to assist to prevent young democracies from falling into mayhem. The enforced disappearance⁸ of Khalid Rashid and the repeated attempts by the ministers to not give frank information to the court is indicative of a mindset which is dismissive of the potential of a crime against humanity."

Zehir Omar is seeking advice from the International Criminal Court

1 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 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

4 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。

5 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

6 interrogated   

v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• He was interrogated by the police for over 12 hours. 他被警察审问了12个多小时。
• Two suspects are now being interrogated in connection with the killing. 与杀人案有关的两名嫌疑犯正在接受审讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

8 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。