美洲－陪审团以虐待伊拉克囚犯为罪名判美国军人入狱10年

 

Jury Sentences US Army Soldier to 10 Years for Abusing Detainees in Iraq

 

At Fort Hood¹, in Texas, a military court has sentenced U.S Army Specialist Charles Graner to ten years in prison for abuse of Iraqi prisoners’ war at the infamous² Abu Ghraib prison.

 

In addition to the ten-year prison sentence, Specialist Graner will be reduced in rank to private and will be dishonorably discharged from the army. The maximum prison sentence he could have received was 15 years. The jury in the military court martial³ found him guilty of nine out of ten counts on Friday. Among the charges for which he was convicted were conspiracy⁴, battery and indecent acts.

 

The 36-year-old reservist was described by pool reporters in the courtroom as standing⁵ at attention and expressing no emotion as the sentence was read.

 

Before the sentencing took place, Specialist Graner testified before the jury, saying that he had only followed orders given to him by superior officers. He admitted that some of the things he had done were criminal and that he had not been trained by the army to carry out such acts. He said some acts, which he characterized as weird⁶ had been suggested by civilian⁷ contractors⁸ working with intelligence officers.

 

Graner's attorney, Houston-based civilian Guy Womack, had argued in the weeklong trial that the soldier was being made a scapegoat⁹ in order to protect higher-ranking officers. Mr. Womack said intelligence officers had ordered guards at Abu Ghraib to rough up prisoners in preparation for interrogation.

 

But prosecutors¹¹ rejected that idea and presented evidence from witnesses and from some of Specialist Graner's own email messages, indicating that he had carried out much of the abuse for his own amusement. They portrayed¹² him as the ringleader of the guards committing abuses at the prison.

 

The abuses at Abu Ghraib became known early last year when photographs, many of them taken by Specialist Graner, were broadcast and printed by the news media. The images of naked prisoners being abused drew a reaction of shock and anger from throughout the world.

 

Specialist Graner was the first guard from Abu Ghraib to face military court martial, but two others and a female clerk, Private First Class Lynndie England, are awaiting trial. Private England gave birth last year to a child prosecutors say was fathered by Specialist Graner. Three other guards from the prison pleaded guilty and were given lighter¹³ sentences in exchange for their testimony¹⁴ against Specialist Graner.

 

Greg Flakus, VOA News, Houston.

 

 

注释：

Abu Ghraib prison 阿布哈里卜监狱

discharge from 使免职

convict [5kCnvikt] vt. 证明......有罪

conspiracy [kEn5spirEsi] n. 共谋，阴谋

battery [5bAtEri] n. 殴打

indecent [in5di:snt] adj. 下流的，猥亵的

reservist [ri5zE:vist] n. 预备役军人

testify [5testifai] v. 证实

scapegoat [5skeip^Eut] n. 替罪羊

prosecutor¹⁰ [5prCsikju:tE] n. 检举人

ringleader [5riNli:dE(r)] n. 魁首，头目 

 

1 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

3 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

4 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。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

7 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。

8 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

10 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

11 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

12 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

14 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。