中东－伊拉克电视节目宣称恐怖分子招供备受争议

 

Controversial Iraqi Television Program Airs Confessions² of Alleged³ Terrorists

 

In Iraq, a controversial television program is broadcasting confessions by individuals accused of responsibility for the wave of violence in the country. The program is popular with many Iraqis, tired of the continuing instability two years after the war to overthrow⁴ Saddam Hussein.

 

A man, appearing disheveled and uncomfortable, sits on a wooden chair in a dim room of what appears to be a police station.

 

As an interrogator⁵ peppers him with questions, the man says he was part of a gang that kidnapped and murdered Iraqis during the past two years in order to create a split between Shi'ite and Sunni Iraqis. But he says his acts were not holy war. They were blasphemous⁶.

 

Police say his name is Ramzi Hashem and he carried out the bombing nearly two-years ago at a Shi'ite shrine⁷ in Najaf that killed senior Shi'ite cleric Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim and 100 followers⁸.

 

During the interrogation Ramzi Hashem also admits to committing rapes⁹ and taking drugs. Prisoners in other interviews on the program say they were paid an average of $150 per killing¹⁰ and after committing 12 murders were given the title of prince (emir) and paid a salary.

 

Victims of the violence have also been interviewed.

 

A widow with five children says her husband, a restaurant owner, was taken away one night by men calling themselves mujahedeen. She says they tortured him for four days before dumping his dead body behind her house.

 

The woman says she recognized one of the abductors as a former Iraqi police officer named Shukhair who has appeared on the same program and confessed to more than 100 murders.

 

The hour-long program is called Terrorists in the Hands of Justice. It appears nightly on the government-owned Iraqi network.

 

It has gripped the attention of the general public, angry over the violence that has killed thousands of Iraqi civilians¹¹ and 1,200 foreign troops.

 

Iraqi officials say the show is changing people's initial perception of the insurgency¹² as a noble struggle for freedom, to the view that the violence is primarily the work of criminals hired by enemies of the new government.

 

Hasanin Faiz Jaber, a 28 year-old laborer¹³, says he watches the program every night. He says it feels good to see that the government is working to improve security.

 

Sameera Polis, a 35 year-old office worker, watches to learn who is behind the violence, but she says it scares her when the criminals talk about targeting ordinary people like herself.

 

An Iraqi journalist who has investigated some of the confessions, Sa'ad al-Izzi, says he was impressed by the program at first.

 

Sa'ad al-Izzi: But later on the credibility of that show and the credibility of those confessions became a little bit doubt[ful].

 

Mr. Sa'ad says some of the victims named in the confessions later were reported to be still alive and some of the prisoners appear to have been beaten. Police deny torture is used to extract the confessions and many prisoners say on camera that they are well-treated.

 

In addition, many of the prisoners are from the Sunni group, which dominated the government of deposed¹⁴ President Saddam Hussein and whose members are said to spearhead the resistance.

 

Mohammed Ali, a 50 year-old retired¹⁵ Sunni, says sometimes the program makes him mad. He says they should broadcast the trials of the prisoners, not the confessions. This would remove doubts about the program.

 

But 40 year-old driver Ahmed Jassem says the confessions are not fabricated because he knows some of the victims. He says the program sends a powerful message to the criminals that they may be captured at any time.

 

Journalist Sa'ad al-Izzi says the confessions have de-mystified the insurgency.

Sa'ad al-Izzi: Most of those guys are criminal gangs, are doing everything just for money, it is not for ethnic¹⁶, or sectarian or religious bases. They are mostly low-life criminals getting paid for criminal activities.

 

A leader of a Sunni group that advocates peaceful opposition¹⁷ to the Iraqi government, Professor Naebil Younis, says the program is misleading the Iraqi people.

 

Naebil Younis: These criminal groups, they have nothing to do with the resistance, in fact, one of the problems of the resistance is some people think this is the resistance, which is not really, not the truth.

 

But Shi'ite parliament member Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum says the program is informative¹⁸ and should continue.

 

Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum: It is not fabricated. It is fact, the ones who killed the Iraqi people are not sincere people, are not Iraqi only, are terrorists from inside cooperating with the former Ba'ath regime.

 

The program has also aired confessions of alleged foreign terrorists. One prisoner said he was a colonel in the Syrian intelligence services who worked undercover in northern Iraq. He said he carried out scores of attacks using ransom¹⁹ money from kidnappings.

 

The Syrian government vehemently²⁰ denies the report and has lodged²¹ a formal protest with the Iraqi government. The program has heightened resentment²² by many Iraqis toward neighboring countries, which they feel benefited from the Saddam government and now support the insurgency.

 

Independent observers say there is no Iraqi law against such a program, as long as the prisoners are not abused and receive a fair trial. But some wonder whether the merits of discrediting²³ the insurgency outweigh²⁴ the risks of aggravating²⁵ social tensions as Iraqi leaders try to forge a government of national unity²⁶.

 

In any case, the program is highly popular and often dominates conversations in coffee shops and on the street. And it is spawning²⁸ imitators. A similar program, called The Real Terrorism, recently aired on another Iraqi channel, Kurdistan TV.

 

Scott Bobb, VOA news, Baghdad.

 

注释：

controversial [7kCntrE5vE:FEl] adj. 争论的，争议的

confession¹ [kEn5feFEn] n. 招供，忏悔

be popular with 受……欢迎

tire of 厌烦

overthrow [7EuvE5WrEu] vt. 打倒，推翻

disheveled [di5FevEld] adj. 凌乱的，不整洁的

dim [dim] adj. 暗淡的

police station 警察局

interrogator [in5terE^eitE] n. 讯问者，质问者

pepper [5pepE] v. 乱射

widow [5widEu] n. 寡妇

torture [5tC:tFE] vt. 拷问，折磨

abductor [Ab5dQktE] n. 绑架者

deposed [di5pEuzd] adj. 免职的

fabricated [5fAbrikeitd] adj. 捏造的，伪造的

ransom [5rAnsEm] v. 敲诈，勒索

spawn²⁷ [spC:n] v. 造成，使产生

imitator [5imi7teitE] n. 模仿者，仿效者

1 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

2 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

5 interrogator   

n.讯问者；审问者；质问者；询问器

参考例句：

• No,I was not mad, but my interrogator was furious. 不，我没疯，只是质问我的人怒不可遏。 来自互联网
• Miss Fan lacked such an interrogator with whom she could whisper intimately. 范小姐就缺少这样一个切切私语的盘问者。 来自互联网

6 blasphemous   

adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的

参考例句：

• The book was declared blasphemous and all copies ordered to be burnt.这本书被断定为亵渎神明之作，命令全数焚毀。
• The people in the room were shocked by his blasphemous language.满屋的人都对他那侮慢的语言感到愤慨。

7 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

8 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

9 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 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。

12 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

13 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

14 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

16 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

17 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

18 informative   

adj.提供资料的，增进知识的

参考例句：

• The adverts are not very informative.这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。
• This intriguing book is both thoughtful and informative.这本引人入胜的书既有思想性又富知识性。

19 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

20 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

21 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

23 discrediting   

使不相信( discredit的现在分词 )； 使怀疑； 败坏…的名声； 拒绝相信

参考例句：

• It has also led to the discrediting of mainstream macroeconomics. 它还使得人们对主流宏观经济学产生了怀疑。

24 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

25 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。

26 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

27 spawn   

n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产

参考例句：

• The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
• These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。

28 spawning   

产卵

参考例句：

• Encounter sites have a small chance of spawning a "Commander" NPC. 遭遇战地区有很小的几率遇到NPC指挥官。
• Instantly revives your Champion at your Spawning Pool, 9 minute cooldown. 立即在出生地复活你的英雄，冷却时间9分钟。