2007年VOA标准英语-Former Iraqi Vice President Hanged

By Margaret Besheer
Irbil, Iraq
20 March 2007

 

Saddam Hussein's former Vice¹ President Taha Yassin Ramadan was hanged early Tuesday for crimes against humanity. His execution comes on the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. VOA's Margaret Besheer has more from northern Iraq.

Taha Yassin Ramadan (file photo)

At 3:05 in the morning local time, the former Iraqi vice president was hanged on a gallows² at an Iraqi army and police base in northern Baghdad, which had been the headquarters of Saddam's military intelligence.

In November, Ramadan was convicted of murder, forced deportation³ and torture for his role in the executions of 148 Shi'ite men and boys from the town of Dujail after a failed 1982 assassination⁴ attempt against Saddam in the town.

Originally, Ramadan, who was nearly 70 years old, was sentenced to life in prison, but an Iraqi appeals court ruled that was too lenient⁵, and he was sentenced to death.

At his sentencing, the judge condemned⁶ him to death by hanging, to which Ramadan proclaimed his innocence⁷ and cursed those who committed injustice⁸ against him.

International human rights groups and the U.N. human rights chief have protested the death penalty against Ramadan, saying there was insufficient⁹ evidence tying him to the Dujail killings¹⁰.

Taha Yassin Ramadan is the third of Saddam's deputies to be executed for the Dujail crimes. The former Iraqi leader was hanged on December 30.

An Iraqi official said the execution was carried out smoothly¹¹. Saddam's hanging evoked¹² an international outcry after illicit¹³ cell phone video of the former dictator being taunted¹⁴ as he was hanged surfaced on the Internet.

The January hanging of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the head of Iraq's secret police, was also criticized, when al-Tikriti was decapitated by the rope used to hang him.

Officials said Tuesday that Ramadan was weighed right before his hanging to ensure the correct length of rope was chosen and that there would not be a repeat of the al-Tikriti incident.

The former vice president's son, Ahmad Taha Yassin Ramadan, told al-Jazeera television that one of his father's lawyers called the family to say he had witnessed the execution this morning before dawn, and that the Iraqi government said it would turn over the body to the family this afternoon in the town of Tikrit.

Taha Yassin Ramadan said before his death that he would like to be buried near Saddam, who is buried on the outskirts¹⁵ of his hometown of Tikrit.

Ramadan, who was Number 20 on the U.S. most wanted list of former regime members, was captured in August 2003 in the northern city of Mosul by Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who turned him over to American forces. He was in U.S. custody¹⁶ until an hour before his execution, when he was handed over to the Iraqis.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

3 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。

4 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

5 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

6 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。

7 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

8 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

9 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

10 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。

11 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

12 evoked   

[医]诱发的

参考例句：

• The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。
• Her face, though sad, still evoked a feeling of serenity. 她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。

13 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

14 taunted   

嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• The other kids continually taunted him about his size. 其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
• Some of the girls taunted her about her weight. 有些女孩子笑她胖。

15 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

16 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。