VOA标准英语2010年-US Tries First Guantanamo Terrorist Su

Jury selection is underway in New York in the trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani. He is the first suspect held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to be tried in an American civilian¹ court. The Tanzanian national is accused of terrorism in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and conspiracy² with al-Qaida to kill Americans around the world.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was captured in 2004 in Pakistan as a suspect in the bombing six years earlier of U.S. embassies in Kenya and his native Tanzania. He was sent to Guantanamo in 2006.

A judge ruled against his lawyers' attempts to dismiss the case on grounds Ghailani was subjected to prolonged detention³ and harsh interrogation at Guantanamo. Observers say the defense⁴ is likely to now use those issues in an appeal to jurors about fairness. The prosecution⁵ is expected to focus on earlier evidence related to the bombings.

Matthew Waxman is a Columbia University associate law professor and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "The prosecution, on the other hand, is going to do everything it can to say, this is not a case about what happened at the hands of the CIA, or in fact even about events after 9/11. This is about events that took place well before 9/11," he said.

Secrecy⁶ is another issue. Legal analyst⁷ James Cohen says there could be a conflict between the need to present evidence and to avoid revealing how America gathers foreign intelligence. "The government is going to continue to try to keep secret as much as it thinks it can and release only what they have to to the participants in court and to the larger public, but the judge ultimately will decide this and there could be a clash," he said.

The U.S. Bill of Rights says no American shall be compelled to be a witness against himself and also guarantees a citizen's right to a speedy trial. Matthew Waxman notes the Ghailani trial may set precedents⁸. "These types of cases raise broader issues of what kinds of rights, constitutional rights, extend to non-citizens captured abroad," he said.

Waxman says terrorism trials in American courts raise concerns about the security of courthouses, witnesses and jurors. James Cohen says this has not been an issue in earlier terrorism cases. "I think so far it's perfectly⁹ clear that it can be done, and indeed there are other examples across the country where we've tried these kinds of cases in a regular federal court and the trial has been perfectly fine," he said.

Cohen says the Ghailani case demonstrates to the world America's commitment to the rule of law. Waxman agrees. But he notes it is not likely to end the debate over whether foreign terrorism suspects should be tried in American civilian courts or by military tribunals
 

1 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。

2 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

3 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。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

6 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。