2006年VOA标准英语-Former CIA Captive Seeks US Apology

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
29 November 2006

A German man who was detained in Macedonia and who says he was tortured while in CIA custody¹, is in Washington seeking support for his campaign to obtain an explanation and an apology from the U.S. government. VOA's Stephanie Ho has this report.

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Khaled el-Masri, who claims the CIA tortured him at a prison in Afghanistan, appears at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, 29 Nov. 2006
Khaled el-Masri was detained on the last day of 2003 while on vacation in Macedonia. He was then flown to a prison in Afghanistan. During his five months there, he says he was shackled², beaten, kept in solitary³ confinement⁴ and injected with drugs. He says in May 2004, he was released in a forest in Albania, "dropped off like a piece of luggage."

Speaking at a news conference in Washington Wednesday, Masri said he still does not know why he was jailed.

"There were no accusations⁵ leveled against me during the whole period of time," he said. "I was constantly questioned about other people, however. Whether I knew any terrorists or donors⁶ of money, contributors, these were the questions that were asked of me."

In May, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit⁷ brought by Masri against George Tenet, the former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, accepting the Bush administration's argument that proceeding⁸ with the case would jeopardize⁹ state secrets.

Masri maintains he is an innocent victim of "extraordinary rendition," which is reported to be the CIA's secret program for transferring terrorism suspects to other countries for detention¹⁰ and interrogation. Though the CIA has refused to comment about the case, U.S. officials have been quoted as saying Masri's was a case of mistaken identity, although he says his abductors knew many details of his private life.

On Tuesday, his lawyers appeared in a federal appeals court in Virginia to argue that the lawsuit should be allowed to go ahead. His legal team includes Steven Watt¹¹, of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"It's on appeal, it's pending¹² appeal," he said. "And we're hopeful of getting a decision on that appeal, probably sometime in the new year. It could be weeks, months, we just don't know yet."

The U.S. government was represented by senior Justice Department lawyer Gregory Katsas, who urged the court to accept the executive branch's invoking¹³ of the state secrets doctrine¹⁴.

A few months ago, President Bush said terror suspects have been transferred from secret CIA detention facilities to a U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Many experts interpreted this to be a public acknowledgment of the once-secret CIA rendition program.

 
Dick Cheney 
President Bush has maintained that these kinds of programs have provided U.S. officials with crucial information in protecting Americans from terrorism. This position was stressed in a recent speech in Washington by Vice¹⁵ President Dick Cheney.

"This nation must not and will not relent in tracking terrorist activity with every legitimate¹⁶ tool at our command," he said.

Meanwhile, Masri is in Washington until Sunday. He meets with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday and Thursday.

Masri's legal efforts in the United States coincide with the release Tuesday of a European Parliament report charging that 11 European Union governments actively¹⁷ or passively cooperated with the CIA's rendition program. The findings contradict assertions by European countries, including Britain, Italy and Germany, that they did not know about the program.

1 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。

2 shackled   

给（某人）带上手铐或脚镣( shackle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The hostage had been shackled to a radiator. 当时人质被铐在暖气片上。
• He was shackled and in darkness of torment. 他被困在黑暗中备受煎熬。

3 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

4 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

6 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

8 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

9 jeopardize   

vt.危及，损害

参考例句：

• Overworking can jeopardize your health.工作过量可能会危及你的健康。
• If you are rude to the boss it may jeopardize your chances of success.如果你对上司无礼，那就可能断送你成功的机会。

10 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。

11 watt   

n.瓦，瓦特

参考例句：

• The invention of the engine is creditable to Watt.发动机的发明归功于瓦特。
• The unit of power is watt.功率的单位是瓦特。

12 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

13 invoking   

v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• You can customise the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can customize the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自辞典例句

14 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

15 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。

16 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

17 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。