2007年VOA标准英语-UN Investigator Says Torture Widespread

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
28 March 2007

After a fact-finding mission around the globe, a U.N.'s special investigator¹ found that, while governments are quick to condemn² torture, the practice is common in many parts of the world. The investigator has submitted his report to the UN Human Rights Council, which is meeting in Geneva until the end of the week, from where Lisa Schlein reports for VOA.

Manfred Nowak (file photo)

The UN investigator on torture, Manfred Nowak, says his fact-finding visits to countries have been met with mixed reactions.

Nowak says he was forced to cancel his visit to Russia in October because Russian authorities would not cooperate with the mission. He says they would not let him carry out unannounced visits to places of detention³ and to hold private interviews with detainees.

But in other countries, in this case Jordan, he says he was able to obtain data despite, what he calls, the deliberate attempts by some officials to obstruct⁴ his work within the Criminal Investigations⁶ Department.

"I concluded that in some of the detention facilities…that torture is a routine practice," Nowak said. "I got many, many allegations from different sources, but, in particular also from prisoners who I interviewed in pre-trial detention centers…and in the Criminal Investigation⁵ Department, I even found what we sometimes called the smoking gun. Actually, we went late in the evening into the police cells and we found people who recently have been seriously tortured."

Jordanian envoy⁷ Mousa Burayzat agreed that individual cases of torture did happen, but he said torture is neither widespread nor routine in Jordan.

Nowak found that torture in Jordan persists because of a lack of awareness⁸ of the problem and because of institutionalized impunity⁹.

"Although the government always again alleged¹⁰ the opposite, I conclude that not one person has ever been found guilty of torture," he said.

However, the U.N. investigator says he is confident the Jordanian government will make every effort to implement¹¹ the recommendations in his report, one of which is to do away with the culture of impunity.

He says the government already has taken one positive step. In December, it closed the Al-Jafr Correction and Rehabilitation¹² Center, where Nowak says, detainees ere routinely beaten and subjected to corporal punishment amounting to torture.

In a report on Nigeria, released earlier this month, Nowak said, "I have come

to the conclusion that torture is systemic." He told a news conference he found evidence of police routinely suspending detainees from ceilings, beating them and shooting them in the feet.

1 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

2 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

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 obstruct   

v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物

参考例句：

• He became still more dissatisfied with it and secretly did everything in his power to obstruct it.他对此更不满意，尽在暗里使绊子。
• The fallen trees obstruct the road.倒下的树将路堵住了。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

10 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

11 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

12 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。