Kenyan prisons

肯尼亞監(jiān)獄

Learn the law, hope for freedom

學(xué)習(xí)法律，希望自由

Education gives Kenyan prisoners hope of redemption and release

教育給肯尼亞囚犯帶來救贖和釋放的希望

詞匯

redemption/救贖

A SENIOR POLICEMAN in Kenya was recently sentenced to death for torturing and killing a prisoner who had been brought into a police station near Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, after drunkenly brawling with his wife. The policeman had thrashed him with a metal pipe, dunked his head in a drum of water and then, after the man had died, claimed he had been beaten by another prisoner, who was initially charged with the murder. Bribes were offered to prisoners to incriminate their fellow inmate. But the judge rejected the story and sentenced the cop to death.

近日，肯尼亞一名高級(jí)警官因虐待并殺害一名囚犯而被判處死刑。這名囚犯在與妻子醉酒斗毆后被帶到肯尼亞首都內(nèi)羅畢附近的一個(gè)警察局。警察用一根金屬管毆打他，把他的頭浸在一桶水里，然后，在他死后，聲稱他被另一名囚犯毆打，這名囚犯最初被控謀殺。向囚犯行賄以使他們的獄友有罪。但法官駁回了這一說法，判處這名警察死刑。

詞匯

Thrash/打；使逆行

Incriminate/控告；暗示...有罪

Bribe/賄賂

Inmate/同院病人；同獄犯人

The police usually enjoy impunity, especially when they kill suspected criminals, which they often do after nabbing them. More striking in this case was that, a mere four days after he was sentenced, the errant policeman was sitting in the front row of a class of 15 prisoners in Kamiti maximum-security jail outside Nairobi. Clad in the blue and white pyjamas worn by convicts, he had started a course in law under the auspices of London University.

警察通?？梢藻羞b法外，特別是當(dāng)他們殺死嫌疑犯時(shí)，他們通常在逮捕他們之后這樣做。在這起案件中，更令人震驚的是，就在他被判刑僅僅四天之后，這名誤入歧途的警察坐在內(nèi)羅畢郊外卡米提最高安全級(jí)別監(jiān)獄的15名囚犯的前排。他穿著犯人穿的藍(lán)白相間的睡衣，在倫敦大學(xué)的贊助下開始了一門法律課程。

詞匯

Impunity/不受懲罰

Nab/捉住；逮捕

Errant/不定的；周游的；偏離正路的

Pyjamas/睡衣；寬長褲

Auspice/贊助；主辦

Through the African Prisons Project (APP), a British-backed NGO, about 65 Kenyan prisoners, almost all of them lifers or on death row, are taking classes in law, their papers sent back and forth between London and Nairobi. The scheme was started by a British lawyer, Alexander McLean, in neighbouring Uganda 12 years ago. In Kamiti prisoners and warders often attend class together, sometimes helping each other with homework or jointly solving legal conundrums. “We’ve had so many success stories,” says George Dianga, the officer in charge of Kamiti. “APP has greatly improved the inmates’ capacity to make appeals. Now judges really do listen.”

通過英國支持的非政府組織“非洲監(jiān)獄項(xiàng)目”(APP)，大約65名肯尼亞囚犯正在上法律課，他們的文件在倫敦和內(nèi)羅畢之間來回傳送，這些囚犯幾乎都是終身監(jiān)禁或死囚。12年前，英國律師亞歷山大·麥克林(Alexander McLean)在鄰國烏干達(dá)發(fā)起了這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃。在卡米提，囚犯和獄吏經(jīng)常一起上課，有時(shí)互相幫助做作業(yè)或共同解決法律難題?！拔覀冇泻芏喑晒Φ墓适?，”負(fù)責(zé)Kamiti的官員喬治?迪亞加(George Dianga)表示?！霸擁?xiàng)目(APP)極大地提高了囚犯上訴的能力?，F(xiàn)在法官們真的會(huì)傾聽。”

詞匯

Warder/?看守；守衛(wèi)；典獄官

Conundrum/難題；謎語

The APP has helped change the law itself. One of its star students, Wilson Kinyua, who was set free in February after 19 years behind bars, had argued before the Supreme Court that the death penalty violated the constitution, which forbids cruel or inhuman punishment. In fact, no death sentence has been carried out in Kenya since 1987. Thousands have had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment under presidential decrees. But the death penalty is still on the statute book. Thanks, however, to the constitutional challenge lodged by Mr Kinyua and his friends, the Supreme Court now accepts that death sentences should no longer be mandatory for murder (the recent case of the policeman was considered exceptionally heinous).

這款項(xiàng)目幫助改變了法律本身。該校的一名明星學(xué)生威爾遜·金元(Wilson Kinyua)曾在最高法院辯稱，死刑違反了禁止殘酷或不人道懲罰的憲法。金元于今年2月被釋放，此前他已被監(jiān)禁19年。事實(shí)上，自1987年以來，肯尼亞從未執(zhí)行過死刑。根據(jù)總統(tǒng)頒布的法令，數(shù)千人被減刑為無期徒刑。但是死刑仍然在法典上。然而，由于金元先生和他的朋友們提出的憲法挑戰(zhàn)，最高法院現(xiàn)在承認(rèn)，謀殺不應(yīng)該再強(qiáng)制執(zhí)行死刑(最近的該警察案件被認(rèn)為是極其令人發(fā)指的)。

詞匯

Mandatory/強(qiáng)制的；托管的；命令的

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The law in Kenya is still heavily tilted against the poor, who are afforded no legal aid in their defence, except for capital crimes, unless a lawyer can be found who acts pro bono. Travesties of justice are frequent. Until the recent Supreme Court ruling, judges had little leeway for leniency, since various crimes carried mandatory sentences. Robbery with violence, for instance, used to carry a mandatory death sentence, albeit often commuted to life. But life usually meant life.

肯尼亞的法律仍然嚴(yán)重偏向窮人，窮人除了死罪之外，沒有得到任何法律援助，除非能找到一名從事公益活動(dòng)的律師。正義的鬧劇時(shí)有發(fā)生。直到最近最高法院的裁決之前，法官們幾乎沒有寬大處理的余地，因?yàn)楦鞣N罪行都是強(qiáng)制執(zhí)行的。以暴力搶劫為例，雖然常常被減刑為無期徒刑，但在過去，暴力搶劫往往被判處死刑。但無期徒刑通常意味著保住一條性命。

詞匯

pro bono/公益活動(dòng)

Leeway/余地；風(fēng)壓差；偏航；落后

Leniency/寬大，仁慈；溫和

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Most of the women prisoners serving life or facing a death sentence in the maximum-security jail in Langata, on the other side of Nairobi, murdered their husbands or partners. Claims that they suffered violent domestic abuse carried little extenuating weight when judges sentenced them.

在內(nèi)羅畢另一邊的蘭加塔安全級(jí)別最高的監(jiān)獄中，大多數(shù)正在服刑或面臨死刑的女囚犯的罪因是殺害了她們的丈夫或伴侶。當(dāng)法官判決他們時(shí)，聲稱他們?cè)馐芰吮┝Φ募彝ヅ按霓q護(hù)幾乎沒有什么可減輕（罪行）的成分。

詞匯

Extenuating/情有可原的；使減輕的

So a vital facet of the APP has been to teach prisoners how to launch appeals and to argue for them in court. The prisoners pursuing London University courses stress that their aim is to help fellow inmates who were unable, for lack of education or money, to defend themselves effectively.

因此，該項(xiàng)目的一個(gè)重要方面是教會(huì)囚犯如何發(fā)起上訴，并在法庭上為他們辯護(hù)。參加倫敦大學(xué)(London University)課程的囚犯強(qiáng)調(diào)，他們的目標(biāo)是幫助那些因缺乏教育或資金而無法有效自衛(wèi)的獄友。

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While the APP is sensitive to the charge of paternalistic interference in Kenya’s judicial system, the Kenyan government and especially its prison service have been happy to co-operate with it. The organisation has sought to improve both prison conditions and the justice system. One effect has been to enhance relations between prisoners and guards. Another has been to reduce reoffending: according to the APP, none of its graduates, once freed, has slipped up.

雖然該項(xiàng)目序?qū)夏醽喫痉ㄏ到y(tǒng)受到的家長式干涉的指控很敏感，但肯尼亞政府，尤其是其監(jiān)獄服務(wù)部門，一直樂于與它合作。該組織尋求改善監(jiān)獄條件和司法系統(tǒng)。其中一個(gè)效果是加強(qiáng)了囚犯和獄警之間的關(guān)系。另一項(xiàng)措施是減少重復(fù)犯罪:根據(jù)該套教養(yǎng)流程，囚犯一旦被釋放，沒有一名“畢業(yè)生”會(huì)犯錯(cuò)。

詞匯

Paternalistic/家長式作風(fēng)的

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Above all, it has given prisoners hope. “APP has inspired us,” says William, a death-row prisoner who, after ten years inside, has both a poetic and lawyerly turn of phrase. “It has turned people from being unreasonable into being reasonable. Inasmuch as our bodies are in prison, our minds are free.”

最重要的是，它給了囚犯希望。“APP啟發(fā)了我們，”死囚威廉(William)說?！八屓藗儚牟恢v道理變成了講道理。因?yàn)槲覀兊纳眢w是在監(jiān)獄里，但思想是自由的?！?/p>

詞匯

Inasmuch/就......而言；由于......

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