肯尼亚兰加塔女子监狱囚犯接受法律教育

肯尼亚兰加塔女子监狱囚犯接受法律教育

In a classroom behind bars, three inmates² and a prison officer learn the basics of common law.

在这间铁窗内的教室里，3名犯人和1名狱警一起研讨法律的基本常识。

Inmate¹ Rose Musyoki said these classes have given her the chance of a lifetime.

犯人罗斯·穆斯约基表示这样的课程给了她一生梦寐以求的机会。

“It has been my childhood dream to do law, but due to some unavoidable circumstances like lack of finance, I've not been able to do it.So when this chance came in I gave it a trial, and now I'm in it, I'm doing it.”

“我小时候就梦想从事法律工作，但由于资金不足等一些不可避免的原因，我最终没有实现。所以当现在这个机会摆在我面前，我就马上开始，现在我终于做到了。”

And already, she's put her lessons into practice, successfully helping³ another inmate to appeal a sentence for kidnapping by arguing that the accused was under duress⁴ at the time.

而且她已经把课堂上学到的用于实践，她成功帮助另一名狱友就一件绑架案提出上诉，理由是这名被告犯人当时是在胁迫状态下认罪的。

“When she went there, the prosecution⁵ had nothing against her. They never even said anything, when she raised just that defense⁶, the prosecution was asked,Do you have anything against her?No, your honor.That was a big achievement.”

“她上庭时检方没有任何证据可以起诉她。他们甚至什么都没说。当她开始为自己申辩时，法官询问:检方有证据可以起诉她吗？对方回答是法官大人，没有。这是非常大的成功。”

Langata Women's Prison holds about 600 inmates, serving sentences ranging from a few days to life behind bars. Some are awaiting trial; others have exhausted⁷ their appeals.

兰加塔女子监狱在押的600名犯人当中有的被判处几天，而有的则是终身监禁。一些人在等候审判，另一些则是因为劳累不再上诉。

Accustomed to being on the wrong side of the law, the prisoners get a new perspective through the education program.

通过这样的教育课程，这些误入歧途的犯人有了新的认识。

Jane Ouma, for example, is serving a 14-year sentence for assaulting her husband's mistress.

比如由于袭击自己丈夫的情妇被判14年监禁的简·奥曼就有切身体会。

She said if she knew then what she knows now, she could have done better than her own lawyer.

她表示如果当初像现在这样懂法，自己可能会比律师做的更好。

“I would have been in a much better position than when I got my lawyer-he didn't turn up in court, he gave me a student lawyer who was just practicing law, and I feel I did not get the right representation.”

“我一定会处于更有利的境况，会比我的律师做得更好。他都没在庭上露面，而是派出一名实习律师，我感觉自己没得到适当的辩护。”

The program is the work of a non-profit group called the African Prisons Project.Students work toward a two-year diploma in common law from the University of London.

一家名为非洲监狱项目的非营利组织设立了这个项目。学生可以获得伦敦大学习惯法专业颁发的2年学位证书。

Then, when good legal advice is hard to come by, these jailhouse advocates can step in.

然后在无法获得好的法律咨询援助时，这些监狱中的专业人士就会伸出援手。

Sam Bryar is a consultant⁸ with the project.“They're not quite at the level where they're equivalent to a lawyer, but they're always going to be available and they're always going to be able to provide that kind of support.

该项目的顾问山姆·比亚尔说道：“她们的水平不亚于专业律师，但是她们能随时待命提供帮助。

We think the impact at the end of the day is going to be substantially larger than if we took the funds that we have and put them into just bringing a lawyer in one day a week.”

而我们认为她们一天工作结束后所造成影响是巨大的，比我们花钱聘请一位律师每周来一天要好。”

Only a handful of inmates gain acceptance into the prison's education programs. Most spend their days in workshops. In one of them, for instance, inmates make handicrafts to be sold at the prison welfare office.

只有一小部分犯人可以接受监狱的教育培训。而大部分人都将时间花在了车间的工作上，比如犯人制作手工制品后在监狱福利办公室出售。

Some work in the kitchen to feed other inmates and staff. Corrections officers here say teaching these kinds of skills gives inmates something to do when they get out.

还有一些人在厨房工作，为其他狱友和工作人员做饭。教官表示教犯人这些可以让她们出狱后能够有一技傍身。

Education officer Jacqueline Onyango said learning the law also can keep people out of prison altogether.

负责教育项目的官员贾奎莱茵·奥朗戈称通过学习法律可以帮助人们不会再误入歧途。

“When people are more equipped with knowledge, there will be less people committing offenses⁹, because most of them commit these offenses out of ignorance, and a more knowledgeable¹⁰ society is easier to deal with.”

“当人们具备更多知识的时候，攻击性就会相应减弱。因为大部分人攻击别人是出于无知，而知识水平更高的社会更易于管理。”

 

Many prisoners here say they are disillusioned¹¹ with the Kenyan courts; but, as law students they have a chance to prove that a person is not powerless to challenge the system,just because she is behind bars.

这里的一些犯人表示她们对肯尼亚法庭的美好幻想破灭。但身为法律系的学生，她们有机会证明个人不会因为身处牢狱就丧失挑战司法系统的能力。

1 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

2 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》

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 duress   

n.胁迫

参考例句：

• He claimed that he signed the confession under duress.他说他是被迫在认罪书上签字的。
• These unequal treaties were made under duress.这些不平等条约是在强迫下签订的。

5 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。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

8 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

9 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

10 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

11 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。