The American military tribunals set up to pass judgment on terrorism suspects at Guantánamo Bay lurched into life this week when David Hicks, the “Australian Taliban”, unexpectedly pleaded guilty. The Pentagon will be relieved that the tribunals have started to show results after five years of controversy over the status of “enemy combatants”, claims of torture, the admissibility of forced confessions and a Supreme Court ruling last year that halted an earlier version of the tribunals. Yet the Hicks case is hardly an impressive start for America's offshore justice. Critics say the 31-year-old Mr Hicks, a former kangaroo skinner and alleged al-Qaeda fighter, faces a “kangaroo court”. Two of his civilian lawyers were barred from the hearing on March 26th. His military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, has been threatened with prosecution for harshly criticising the tribunals.
The prosecutor, Colonel Morris Davis, said the defence lawyer may have breached military law that bans officers from using “contemptuous words” against the president or senior officials. Major Mori filed a counter-charge against the prosecution, saying it was trying to intimidate him. In the end the motion will not be heard because Mr Hicks, looking pale and bedraggled, admitted the charge of “providing material support for terrorism”. A charge of “attempted murder in violation of the laws of war” was dropped. As The Economist went to press, the tribunal was due to hear details of his plea and pass sentence, which Mr Hicks is expected to serve out in Australia. His father, Terry Hicks, said his son had had “five years of absolute hell” since being captured in Afghanistan and allegedly suffering beatings, rape and forced injections in American custody—accusations rejected by the Pentagon. The guilty plea was just “a way to get home”, said Mr Hicks's father.
Many in Australia regard Mr Hicks as more of a lost soul than a dangerous terrorist. Indeed, his charge sheet portrays him as little more than an al-Qaeda foot-soldier, and a poor one at that. His jihadi CV is pitiful compared with the evidence being given by some of the 14 “high value detainees” belatedly brought to Guantánamo from CIA secret prisons in September. They include al-Qaeda's operational chief, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who in a closed hearing to determine whether he was an “enemy combatant” earlier this month boasted that he had organised the September 11th attacks “from A to Z”, and 30 other plots. Meanwhile, Ahmed Ghalfan Ghailani and Waleed bin Atttash, from Tanzania and Yemen respectively, have admitted supplying equipment for the bombing of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Many of these big names will face trial, and perhaps the death penalty. But the tribunals are expected to try only 60-80 of the more than 380 prisoners currently in Guantánamo. Over the years hundreds of detainees have been sent back to their countries, where some have been jailed and most have been released—and sometimes re-arrested. The Bush Administration says it wants to phase out and eventually close the jail. But it is unlikely to do so for some years, either because it lacks the evidence to prosecute detainees (even under the more lax military rules it is using), or because other countries are unwilling to take them back.
注(1):本文选自Economist, 03/29/2007
注(2):本文习题命题模仿对象为2004年真题Text 3(题目顺序稍微调整)。
1. What does the author intend to illustrate with the Hicks case?
[A] The case is not encouraging in promoting justice.
[B] The Pentagon is working effectively to try the detainees.
[C] The detainees are not supposed to have civilian lawyers.
[D] Talibans were involved in illegal kangaroo trade.
2. What can we infer from the second paragraph?
[A] Hicks’s military lawyer was also sued by the prosecutor.
[B] The reason that Mr. Hicks pleaded guilty was to escape from the bad treatment.
[C] Mr. Hicks has admitted guity of both charges by the prosecutor.
[D] The Pentagon is unaware of the accusation toward the American custody.
3. What does “kangaroo court” (Line 8, Paragraph 1) mean?
[A] a court dealing with kangloo smuggle
[B] a weird court
[C] an unfair court
[D] a military
4. The fourth paragraph suggests that _______.
[A] the jail in Guantánamo Bay will be closed in the new future
[B] the government is too optimistic in closing the jail
[C] the tribunals will eventually try all the detainees
[D] all the detainees will be sent back to their own countries
5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
[A] Mr. Hicks is a big name in the al-Qaeda organization.
[B] All the detainees in Guantánamo Bay are proved guilty.
[C] Most detainees will face permenant jail when sent back home.
[D] It is ironic to say that the Hicks case shows America’s justice.
篇章剖析
本文就来自澳大利亚的塔利班恐怖分子大卫·希克斯承认法庭对他的指控一事展开讨论。第一段就整个事件的前因后果进行了简要的讨论,从希克斯案引出了对于美国军事法庭不公平性问题的讨论;第二段对事件进一步展开了详细论述,并引用了各方人士的观点,说明了针对军事法庭争议的复杂性;第三段说明希克斯只是一个小角色,被关押的还有许多具有重要地位的恐怖分子;第四段则指出布什关于关闭关塔那摩基地计划的难度所在。
词汇注释
tribunal [tri`bju:nl] n. (特等)法庭 intimidate [in`timideit]v. 胁迫
lurch [lE:tF] vi. 突然倾斜 begraggled [bi`dVAgld]adj. 全身泥污的
combatant [`kCmbEtEnt] n. 战士, 战斗员 injection[in`jektFEn] n. 注射, 注射剂
halt [hC:lt] vt. 使停止 custody [`kQstEdi]n. 监管,保管
skinner [`skinE] n. 皮革商 etainee [9ditei`ni:]n. 被拘留者, 未判决囚犯
bar [bB:] vt. 禁止, 阻挡, 妨碍 penalty [`penElti]n. 处罚, 罚款
breach [bri:tF] v. 违背, 破坏 phase out 使逐步淘汰, 逐渐停止
contemptuous [kEn`temptjuEs] adj. 轻蔑的, 侮辱的 lax [lAks]adj. 松的, 不严格的
难句突破
The American military tribunals set up to pass judgment on terrorism suspects at Guantánamo Bay lurched into life this week when David Hicks, the “Australian Taliban”, unexpectedly pleaded guilty.
主体句式 The American military tribunals lurched into life.
结构分析 这个句子的结构看上去比较容易让人混淆。经过分析,可以发现第一个出现的动词词组“set up”并不是谓语,而是用来修饰the American military 的过去分词结构。这个句子真正的谓语是lurch into life。
句子译文 人称“澳大利亚塔利班”的大卫·希克斯在本周出乎人们意料地承认了法庭对他的指控,这意味着美国军事法庭对关押在关塔那摩湾的恐怖分子嫌犯进行审判的努力终于开始发挥实际作用。
题目分析
1.A. 推理题。文章对应信息为第一段的“Yet the Hicks case is hardly an impressive start for America's offshore justice”。
2.D. 推理题。文章第二段最后希克斯的父亲说the guilty plea was just “a way to get home”,而且前文提到了希克斯遭受的各种折磨,这都暗示希克斯承认自己的罪行是希望能够逃离折磨,回到祖国。
3.C. 语义题。“kangaroo court”的意思是“所做裁决不够公正透明的法庭”。如果不知道这个意思也无妨,因为可以从上下文意思中推出。后一句话中提到,“Two of his civilian lawyers were barred from the hearing on March 26th. His military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, has been threatened with prosecution for harshly criticising the tribunals”,希克斯的律师都无法出庭,说明这个法庭是不公正的。
4.B. 细节题。B选项的原文对应信息为“The Bush Administration says it wants to phase out and eventually close the jail. But it is unlikely to do so for some years”,可见布什政府在这一问题上的态度过于乐观。
5.D. 推理题。文章从头到尾所传达的信息都是,希克斯一案存在很多不公正因素。A、B、C选项都能在文中找到意思相反的对应信息。
参考译文
人称“澳大利亚塔利班”的大卫·希克斯在本周出乎人们意料地承认了法庭对他的指控,这意味着美国军事法庭对关押在关塔那摩湾的恐怖分子嫌犯进行审判的努力终于开始发挥实际作用。五角大楼将会对军事法庭初步显示出的结果感到轻松,因为其五年来一直受到所谓“敌对战斗人员”身份的争议困扰,即从去年开始用所谓的拷打、纵容逼供和最高法院等方式取代之前的军事法庭进行审判。尽管如此,对于美国的国际正义来说,希克斯的案件还很难说是一个另人振奋的开端。评论家们称,31岁的希克斯先生曾经是袋鼠皮革商人和所谓的基地组织战士,他现在面对的是一个不公正的法庭。他的两位民事律师被禁止在3月26号听讼。而其军事律师,少校迈克尔·莫里则因为对军事法庭的尖刻批评将面临被起诉的威胁。
公诉人莫利斯·戴维上校称辩护律师可能已违背军法中关于禁止军官针对主席或者高级官员使用侮辱性词语的条例。而莫里少校针对该起诉也提出了一个反向指控,认为起诉意在胁迫他。现在我们最终不会再听到类似这样的传闻,因为看上去面色苍白精神颓废的希克斯先生已经承认了关于“提供资源支持恐怖分子”的指控。而法庭已经放弃了另一个关于“违背战争法的谋杀未遂”指控。当本刊发行之时,从军事法庭即将听到更多他的恳求和宣判细节,人们普遍认为希克斯先生将会在澳大利亚服刑。他的父亲特里·希克斯声称其子自从在阿富汗被捕以来经历了地狱般的五年生活,期间遭受了殴打、强奸和强迫注射等——尽管这些指控已被五角大楼驳回。希克斯先生的父亲说承认有罪不过是一种得以回家的方法罢了。
在澳大利亚有很多人认为希克斯先生更像一个丧失灵魂的人而并非危险的恐怖分子。确实,案件记录他被描述成一个基地组织的普通步兵,一个可怜的小角色。同9月份从中情局秘密监狱转到关塔那摩的14名具有极高价值的囚犯相比,希克斯的杰哈迪履历看起来非常令人同情。前者包括基地组织的行动首领哈立德·谢赫·穆罕默德,他在本月早期一个确定其是否为敌对战斗人员身份的听讼会中,自夸他从头到尾策划了911袭击和30个其他秘密计划。与此同时,分别来自坦桑尼亚和也门的Ahmed Ghalfan Ghailani 和Waleed bin Atttash也承认自己为1998年肯尼亚和坦桑尼亚美国大使馆的爆炸事件提供了相应设备。
这些鼎鼎大名的恐怖分子很多即将面临审判,而且可能被判死刑。但是军事法庭目前只会审判380多名关塔那摩囚犯中的60-80名。几年来,囚禁者中已有成百人被遣送回了自己的国家,他们有被继续监禁,大多数则被释放——不过有时又被重新逮捕。布什行政当局宣称有必要逐渐减少人员并最终关闭这个监狱。但看很难在几年内做到这一点,一方面是因为缺乏起诉这些囚禁者的证据(即使是在不够严谨的军法框架下),另一方面则是因为其他国家事实上并不愿意将那些囚犯带回。
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