Hearing Begins for 5 Suspected 9/11 Co-Conspirators at Guantanamo
美国军方开始审判五名九一一恐嫌
Six-and-a-half years after the September 11 terror attacks, the accused mastermind and four other co-conspirators are facing a war-crimes tribunal at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four others is the highest-profile test yet of the controversial tribunal system, which is under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. All five men face the death penalty if convicted.
2001年9/11恐怖袭击已经过去六年半了。这个星期四,美国军方将在古巴关塔那摩湾的拘押中心审判被指控参与策划那次恐怖袭击事件的五名嫌疑犯。美国最高法院正在对有争议的审判方式进行研究和审查。将要受到审判的这五个人有可能被判处死刑。
The defendants will face a military judge for the first time Thursday to hear the charges against them formally read. They will have the opportunity to enter a plea and may also be allowed to speak to the court about other issues, such as the conditions of their detention and interrogation. Charges against a sixth detainee were withdrawn last month without explanation, but experts note he has claimed some of the evidence against him was obtained through torture.
上述五名被告星期四将首次面对军事法官,并聆听检方正式宣读对他们的指控。他们会有机会为自己作有罪或无罪申辩,同时也可能会被允许就拘押和审判条件等其他问题,向法庭发表观点。上个月,在没有任何解释的情况下,对第六名嫌疑人的指控被收回。不过专家指出,这位嫌疑人宣称有些罪证是通过虐待获取的。
This will be the first public appearance for the five men, who have been held by the U.S. government for years, first in secret CIA prisons and now at Guantanamo. Reporters, lawyers and human rights activists will be allowed to watch the hearing, but no sound, video or pictures will be made public. In addition, sound from the hearing will be delayed several seconds to enable military officials to turn it off if someone reveals secret information.
这将是五名嫌疑人首次公开露面。在此之前,他们被美国政府关押了多年,先是在中央情报局的监狱,后来又到了关塔那摩湾。记者、律师、以及人权活动人士将被允许聆听审判,但是声音、图像、照片不会对外公布。除此之外,审判期间,说话的声音会推迟几秒钟以后才可以被在场人士听到,这样的话,假如有谁谈到机密,军方官员可以把声音关掉。
The process for trying the men before what are called Military Commissions was created specifically for detainees in the war on terrorism. But the original system was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the court is now considering a case which could invalidate the revised process. Still, the senior military officer responsible for the process, Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann says the defense department is adding dozens of staff members to his team in an effort to move forward with arraignments and trials as quickly as possible.
把这些嫌疑犯交由军事特别委员会来审判是特别为在反恐战争中拘押的人士而设置的程序。但是最初设置的程序被美国联邦最高法院所否决。最高法院目前正在审理一个案子,这个案子有可能会让修正过的程序也被否决。尽管如此,为这一程序负责的军方高级官员哈特曼准将表示,国防部正在为他所在的团队增加人员,目的是让提审和审判尽快进行。
Speaking to reporters here Wednesday evening, General Hartmann addressed one of the main controversies surrounding the process, the use of secret evidence.
哈特曼将军星期三晚间在与媒体见面时谈到了整个审讯过程当中颇为引起争议的一个问题,那就是保密证据问题。
"Every piece of evidence, classified or not that goes to the finder of fact will be subject to review, cross examination, challenge and understanding by the accused and his counsel," he said.
他说:“每一条被送交证据核查人员那里的证据,不管是属于机密的,或者不是属于机密的,都要经过审核,辩驳,并且还要经过被告及其辩护律师的挑战和谅解。”
The 'finder of fact' will be a military jury. General Hartman's statement raises the possibility that secret evidence could be revealed to al-Qaida members but not to the public, but that would likely only happen much later in the process. In these commission trials, the defendants are prosecuted, judged and represented by U.S. military lawyers, but private lawyers have volunteered to be part of the defense team.
判定事实指的是军事陪审团。哈特曼将军的上述讲话指出这种可能,那就是,保密证据有可能透露给基地恐怖组织成员,但没有对外公布,但是这只可能会在整个程序的后期。在军事委员会主持的审判过程中,受审一方的审判、裁决以及代理全都由美国军方的律师来承担,但是也有非军方领域的律师自愿报名为被告进行辩护。
Activists like Joanne Mariner of Human Rights Watch are not convinced that this process will be fair, as General Hartmann says it will. They say the military process does not sufficiently protect the defendants' rights, particularly regarding evidence obtained through mistreatment. General Hartmann says that decision will be made by the military judge in each instance.
一些人权活动人士,比如像人权观察组织的乔安娜.马里纳,都不认为整个审判程序会像哈特曼将军说的那样会是公正的。他们说,军事审判过程不会充分保障被告的权力,尤其是涉及到通过虐待的方式获得的信息。哈特曼将军说,军方法官要根据每个具体案例的情况做出决定。
Mariner, who will be an observer at Thursday's hearing, says the relatives of the nearly three thousand victims of the attacks, and the public at large, deserve a more reliable process, like the regular U.S. federal courts.
马里纳女士将以观察员身份出席星期四的审讯听证,她说,出于对9/11事件中将近三千名死难者的家属以及美国的公众的考虑,应该有一个更可靠的审理过程,比如像美国普通的联邦法庭那样。
"A case as important as the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States should be tried fairly in federal court so that the result is some kind of finality in which both the U.S. public and the world can recognize that the result of the trial is reliable and credible," said Mariner.
她说:“像9/11恐怖袭击事件这么重要的案子应该经由联邦法庭公正地审理,以便最终的结局能够让美国公众以及全世界都感到是公正可信的。”
The Bush administration is opposed to using federal courts to try the terrorism suspects, in part because of the secret evidence.
布什政府反对经由联邦法庭系统来审判恐怖分子嫌疑人,原因之一即是出于秘密证据的考虑。
The best-known of the men going on trial Thursday is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, known as the mastermind of the September 11th attacks. His alleged co-conspirators are Ramzi Binalshibh, Walid Muhammed 'Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al Hawsawi. Charges against Mohammed al Kahtani were dropped, but officials say they may be reinstated later. He is believed to have planned to be one of the September 11 hijackers.
即将被审判的五名被告当中,最出名的恐怕要算是哈立德.谢赫.穆罕默德,他是众所周知的9/11恐怖袭击事件策划人。被指控与他一道策划恐怖袭击的还有拉姆齐.比纳尔谢赫、 瓦利德.穆罕默德.阿他什、 阿里.阿卜杜勒.阿齐兹和穆斯塔法.阿勒-哈萨维。对穆罕默德.阿尔.卡塔尼的指控被取消了,但是有关官员说,那些指控以后还有可能重新被提出。据信,他是计划中9/11事件中的一个飞机劫持者。
The arraignment will take place in a specially built building on this U.S. Naval Base, not far from the detention center where 275 detainees are held. Several others have also been charged and their trials are proceeding. Officials expect to charge and try more of the detainees, but some have been approved for release and others may remain in custody without being charged.
These five detainees could face the death penalty if they are convicted, but if any of them is acquitted he could still be kept in custody as an enemy combatant.
假如被判定有罪的话,以上五名嫌疑人有可能会被判处死刑。假如他们其中哪一位被判无罪的话,他仍有可能作为敌方战斗人员被继续拘留下去。
Both President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have said they would like to close the Guantanamo detention center, but Secretary Gates acknowledged recently that he has not made much progress toward finding an alternative way to deal with the terrorism suspects held here.
布什总统和美国国防部长盖茨都曾表示,希望关闭关塔那摩湾的拘押中心。但是,盖茨最近承认说,至今还没有找到一个更好的渠道,来审理拘押在关塔那摩湾的恐怖活动嫌疑分子。