2006年VOA标准英语-Controversial New Legislation Rewrites Rules fo

By Carolyn Weaver¹
Washington, D.C.
29 September 2006
 
watch Weaver's report

Both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have approved controversial new legislation proposed by President Bush on the treatment and trials of terror suspects in U.S. custody². Following ten hours of debate, the Senate voted Thursday 65-34 in favor of the measure. The House had earlier approved a similar bill 253 to 168. Mr. Bush had urged final action on the measure before mid-term elections on November 7, and he's expected to sign it into law by week's end.

 
A prisoner at Guantanamo Bay
The debate began in June, after the U.S. Supreme³ Court struck down as unconstitutional President Bush's plan for military tribunals to try suspected terrorists and those deemed unlawful combatants -- for example, the approximately 450 prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Mr. Bush responded with new legislation, asking Congress to approve military tribunals and also to "clarify" what tactics U.S. interrogators may lawfully⁴ use under the Geneva Conventions to induce suspects to talk.

"Information we get from these detainees is corroborated⁵ by intelligence we have received from other sources, and together this intelligence has helped us connect the dots and stop attacks before they occur," said Mr. Bush.

 
Brian Walsh
Brian Walsh, a legal expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, agrees that what Mr. Bush calls "tough" interrogation tactics are necessary:

"We're put in a position of having to make really difficult decisions about what is okay and what is not okay, because we are dealing⁶ with combatants who have no concern for the laws of war, they have no concerns for the lives of citizens, for civilians⁷, they're not concerned whether it's children, so there are no boundaries for the way they want to conduct this war."  Mr. Walsh continued, "So, we can't go back to just Geneva standards that would apply to normal combatants, where you just ask them for their name, rank and serial⁸ number. Because we'd really be handicapping ourselves in a way that would not allow us to prosecute⁹ the war which is primarily a war of intelligence, so we need to know how they're planning and conducting the war."

 
U.S. soldier in guard tower overlooking military-run Camp Delta¹⁰ prison in Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval¹¹ Base, June 27, 2006  
But the president's demand to clarify the Geneva Convention's ban on torture met strong resistance from several leading Republicans, including Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam. Opponents argued that setting guidelines would weaken the Geneva Conventions -- and that torturous¹² tactics produce false information. The White House agreed to a compromise bill that explicitly¹³ forbids certain acts, such as murder or sexual assault, but gives the president sole authority to interpret other aspects of  the Geneva Conventions.

Senator McCain later said he believes the final bill does forbid CIA interrogators from using very harsh methods, such as simulated drowning, induced hypothermia, or making prisoners stand for 40 or more hours. Human rights groups and other critics, however, say the legislation does still allow such techniques, which they say are torture banned by the Geneva Conventions.

 
Anant Raut
Anant Raut represents several Guantanamo detainees.  "The Bush administration internally has a very narrow definition of torture, so they don't consider what much of the rest of the world would consider torture to actually be torture," said the lawyer from the Center for Constitutional Rights.

On September 6, Mr. Bush also announced the transfer of 14 of the most high-profile terror suspects in U.S. custody to Guantanamo, including the man believed to be the chief planner of the September 11 attacks.

 
George W. Bush during his speech on terrorism and 9/11 attacks, Sept. 6, 2006
"I am announcing today that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi bin-Al Shibh and eleven other terrorists in CIA custody have been transferred to the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay," the president said in the announcement.

Under the new legislation, those 14 top suspects will be tried by U.S. military tribunals that can use coercively obtained evidence and hearsay¹⁴, if a judge deems the evidence reliable, and if it was obtained before a 2005 U.S. law banning cruel, inhuman¹⁵ or degrading treatment. Defendants¹⁶ will be represented by military lawyers, and will have access to summaries of classified evidence.

The great majority of Guantanamo inmates¹⁷, however, have been held as long as five years, and have not been charged with any crime. The new legislation strips such prisoners of any right to challenge their continued detention¹⁸ – or their treatment – before an independent court. The bill also strips U.S. courts of jurisdiction¹⁹ over detainees, many of whom, says Anant Raut, were never combatants, but were mistakenly rounded up:

 
Camp Delta Cell Block for uncooperative detainees
"Even former CIA interrogators and former commanders of Guantanamo have admitted they got the wrong people. To understand how these individuals got to Guantanamo, you have to realize that when the U.S. went into Afghanistan and Pakistan, they distributed leaflets that offered these $5,000 bounties²⁰ for any 'terrorists' who were turned over to them. So, of course, there was this financial incentive²¹ to just turn in anybody and accuse them of being a terrorist."

The stripping of the right to challenge detention and treatment would also apply to an estimated 14,000 people being held in secret U.S. prisons abroad, whose existence Mr. Bush first acknowledged in early September.  Brian Walsh of the Heritage Foundation defends the current system, and points out that each prisoner's status is periodically reviewed by military officials.

"We're bending over backwards²² in many ways to try to make sure these things don't happen. We're never going to fashion a perfect system, there may be individual injustices²³ which occur against them. But that's a consequence of having an enemy who wants to kill you. If Americans feel the threat is not significant enough or if they are willing to let these people go, or give them substantial rights that tie up our ability to interrogate²⁴, that's something for the American people to decide," said Walsh.

Opponents say the legislation legalizes tyranny.

"The U.S. for the longest time has been this example for the rest of the world to follow," thinks Raut. "And here we are now sending people to secret prisons to be tortured and locking people up for years at a time without any sort of crimes [charged] against them.  I think now in the U.S., again in its overzealous attempt to combat this very real threat, is losing touch with all the values that have made this country great over the years, and turning into this state where the executive no longer feels it has to answer to the other branches of government."

Passage of the detainee bill before the election was a top priority for Republicans, who plan to attack Democrats²⁵ for opposing it in their campaigns. Opponents charged the bill was designed for short-term political use, and predict the Supreme Court will strike it down.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

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 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。

4 lawfully   

adv.守法地，合法地；合理地

参考例句：

• Lawfully established contracts shall be protected by law. 依法成立的合同应受法律保护。 来自口语例句
• As my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death parts us. 当成是我的合法丈夫，无论疾病灾难，直到死亡把我们分开。 来自电影对白

5 corroborated   

v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 )

参考例句：

• The evidence was corroborated by two independent witnesses. 此证据由两名独立证人提供。
• Experiments have corroborated her predictions. 实验证实了她的预言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

9 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？

10 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。

11 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

12 torturous   

adj. 痛苦的

参考例句：

• His breathing was torturous.他的呼吸充满痛苦。
• This is a torturous agonizing way to kill someone.这是一种让人受尽折磨、痛苦难忍的杀人方法。

13 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

14 hearsay   

n.谣传，风闻

参考例句：

• They started to piece the story together from hearsay.他们开始根据传闻把事情的经过一点点拼湊起来。
• You are only supposing this on hearsay.You have no proof.你只是根据传闻想像而已，并没有证据。

15 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

16 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

17 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。

19 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。

20 bounties   

（由政府提供的）奖金( bounty的名词复数 )； 赏金； 慷慨； 大方

参考例句：

• They paid bounties for people to give up their weapons. 他们向放下武器的人发放赏金。
• This foundation provided bounties of more than 5 million last year. 去年该基金会赠款达五百万元以上。

21 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

22 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

23 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

24 interrogate   

vt.讯问，审问，盘问

参考例句：

• The lawyer took a long time to interrogate the witness fully.律师花了很长时间仔细询问目击者。
• We will interrogate the two suspects separately.我们要对这两个嫌疑人单独进行审讯。

25 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》