VOA标准英语2008年-US Lawmaker says Bush Administration Should Adm

By Deborah Block
Washington
08 May 2008
 

A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee heard testimony¹ Tuesday about the detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.  Senior U.S. officials say the Bush administration could announce plans before the end of its term in January to close the controversial prison.  VOA's Deborah Block reports from Washington. 

The U.S. government is under international and domestic pressure to close the prison camp.  It opened in January 2002 to house terror suspects. Debate has intensified² in recent months over how to deal with Guantanamo.

Congressman³ Bill Delahunt, a Democrat⁴, is head of a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on human rights.  He says some detainees have been held unjustly.

"But once discovered, we should acknowledge those mistakes and fix them, design a system that allows redress⁵, that embraces the rule of law in full measure and that shows the world that American justice is not afraid of the truth but in fact seeks the truth, however embarrassing that may be to those in power," he said. 

More than 500 prisoners have been released from Guantanamo. But most of the remaining 270 detainees have been confined for years without charge.  So far, one prisoner has been tried in a military tribunal and convicted.  The U.S. government says it intends to try between 60 and 80 of the remaining prisoners. 

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, does not apologize for detaining radical⁶ Islamists who have killed innocent people. But he agrees that the U.S. should own up to its mistakes.

He says, "Now obviously some of the people in any type of chaotic⁷ situation are innocent and we should do our very best make sure in time of conflict, that we admit our mistakes, we tell the truth."

Attorney Emi MacLean is with the Guantanamo Global Justice Initiative.  The group advocates for Guantanamo detainees.  She says the detention⁸ camp has not made the U.S. safer.

"The continued existence of Guantanamo as an offshore⁹ prison facility intended to be as outside of the reach of the law is destruction for the U.S. image abroad and counterproductive for human rights and national and international security,” MacLean said.

In some cases, the U.S. has returned detainees to their home countries after receiving assurances they would not be tortured there.  Congressmen Delahunt says the practice troubles him. He says countries such as Libya, Iran and Kazakhstan practice systematic¹⁰ torture. 

Even if the prison closes, government officials are debating other options, including the transfer of detainees to high security military prisons in the United States.

The U.S. Supreme¹¹ Court is expected to rule soon on the rights of Guantanamo prisoners and whether they can use civilian¹² courts to challenge their confinement¹³.

1 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。

2 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

6 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

7 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

8 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。

9 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

10 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。