VOA标准英语10月-Former Death Row Prisoners in Nigeria Discuss Con

More than 720 men and 11 women are now on death row in Nigerian prisons, and the number is expected to rise. Amnesty International says prisoners are routinely tortured and prison conditions are horrendous¹. Gilbert da Costa has been speaking to two former death row prisoners and filed this report for VOA.

A presidential commission investigation² into Nigeria's justice system found that inmates³ spent an average of 10-15 years on death row often in deplorable conditions, many of them suffering from mental disorders⁴.

Food is often insufficient⁵ and short on nourishment⁶, the study found. Its says overcrowding in Nigerian jails is leading to violence and disease.

David Lewu spent 14 years on death row in Kaduna prison, in northern Nigeria.

"When you get to the prison, they remove humanity [dignity] from you," he said. "Like even if you have a goat, you cannot keep it in such conditions in the prison. Six by six, you keep four persons. You cannot turn. We call it one man one post. When you are sleeping you can't turn on your own, except you stand up and turn. And they will put a bucket and you will excrete in the bucket-three, four of you, inside a small jungle cell."

Amnesty International and other activists⁷ campaigning for death row inmates claim many of those awaiting trial are effectively presumed guilty, even when there is little evidence of their involvement in the crime of which they are accused. The group also found that people not suspected of committing any crime, but rather arrested in place of a family member the police could not locate, are locked up with convicted criminals.

Death row prisoner Dotun Fatiwela was sentenced to death in 1992 and released by the Supreme⁸ Court in May 2008 on an appeal.

"One Isa, he was my cell mate," said Fatiwela. "One morning he woke, he said how will he be able to explain; the police just caught him, he can't speak English and they said they saw him pass where somebody had died. And I asked him, didn't they give you time to talk in court? He said I don't understand what they did. 'They just told me go'- and today I'm here. Unfortunately, he died in the prison."

Amnesty International says the Nigerian police routinely tortures prisoners in order to extract confessions⁹.

1 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

2 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。

3 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

6 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 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》