VOA标准英语2010年-Nations Prove More Willing to Combat P

Portuguese¹ Naval² Marines from the frigate³ 'lvares Cabral', guarding a group of suspected Somali pirates, during a joint⁴ operation with Seychelles and EU forces in the Somali Basin, off the Seychelles, against a pirate group that had attacked the-Spanish flagged fishing vessel⁵ 'Ortube Berria', (File)

International naval forces have caught scores of alleged⁶ pirates off the coast of Somalia in recent years. But few are ever prosecuted⁸, and many simply go free.

U.S. and allied⁹ naval forces are having greater success battling piracy¹⁰ off the coast of Somalia.

But despite the recent capture of alleged pirates, finding a place to hold and prosecute⁷ remains¹¹ difficult.

 

Kenya is one of just two countries in eastern Africa willing to accept and prosecute those accused of piracy. And earlier this year, it stopped, claiming undue¹² strain on the country's justice system.

Only recently after meeting with European Union diplomats¹³ did Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula say his country will resume prosecuting¹⁴ alleged pirates. But he warned Kenya won't take them all. "Acceptance is going to be done on a case by case basis. It's not a blanket acceptance. It has to be looked at, discussions have to be entered into, and we must see how best to go about it," he said.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton agrees. "The burden has to be shared, that this country cannot alone deal with this problem," she stated.

And Kenya no longer is the only country. The small African island nation of Seychelles recently began prosecuting pirates for the first time, and is setting up a special court to hear some 31 cases.

On the phone Seychelles Ambassador to the U.N. Ronald Jumeau states, "Already the pirates we are holding is 10 percent or more of our prison capacity. This is where the limitations were. It's how many can we take and handle at any one time compared to the holding prison capacity of Seychelles."

The U.S. and Europe have extradited only a small number of pirate suspects. And only recently in a Dutch court has there been what is believed to be Europe's first trial of Somali pirate suspects.

Between March and April, EU naval forces captured 275 alleged pirates, but only 40 face prosecution¹⁵. The remaining 235 were released. The so-called catch and release policy is not a viable¹⁶ long-term solution says John Pike, director of the military information website Globalsecurity.org.

"One of the problems right now with our anti- piracy effort is the catch and release policy… I think if pirates felt they would face serious penalties, either very long jail time or something worse, they would rethink whether this was a good line of work for them to be in," Pike said.

Pirates captured this Russian ship, and were released after the ship's rescue in early May. But Russian officials say the 10 pirates disappeared at sea, and may have died.

Many countries refuse to take them for fear that such prisoners will seek asylum¹⁸. They also worry about filling up their jails. But alleged pirates still deserve a fair trial says T. Kumar of Amnesty International.

"The embassies should be involved to provide them not only the family visits or exchange of letters but also they make sure they get adequate legal representation… How do you know he is a pirate? He could be a fisherman. He could be in the place at the wrong time. We don't know," Kumar said. "We want the international community to look at it from a human point of view."

And says Pike of Globalsecurity.org, it should not be regarded as an ordinary crime. "As long as we treat it as a criminal problem, the criminal justice system is not really set up to deal with it," he said. "If we were to treat it as a military problem, we might get some results."

Yet others say, without some sort of strong deterrent¹⁹, such as a credible²⁰ threat of prosecution, what is the point of spending millions of dollars capturing pirates?
 

1 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

2 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

3 frigate   

n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰

参考例句：

• An enemy frigate bore down on the sloop.一艘敌驱逐舰向这只护航舰逼过来。
• I declare we could fight frigate.我敢说我们简直可以和一艘战舰交战。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

6 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

7 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

8 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

9 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

10 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 undue   

adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的

参考例句：

• Don't treat the matter with undue haste.不要过急地处理此事。
• It would be wise not to give undue importance to his criticisms.最好不要过分看重他的批评。

13 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

15 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

16 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

17 anti-   

pref.[前缀]表示反抗，排斥

参考例句：

• The car has many safety features,including anti - skid braking.这车配有许多特别安全装置，包括防滑制动器。
• The anti-aircraft units opened fire and hit two of the enemy planes.防空部队开炮，击中了两架敌机。

18 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

19 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

20 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？