奧巴馬要求國會同意關閉關塔那摩監獄

President Barack Obama has proposed a plan to close the US prison at Guantánamo Bay in a final effort to persuade a sceptical Congress to help him shut the controversial site before he leaves office, fulfilling a campaign pledge.

美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)提出了一項計劃，擬關閉美國在關塔那摩灣(Guantánamo Bay)的監獄。這是他最後一次試圖勸說持懷疑態度的美國國會幫他在離任前關閉這一備受爭議的場所，以讓他能夠兌現在競選總統時作出的承諾。

Fifteen years after Guantánamo was opened to detain prisoners captured in Afghanistan, the US is holding 91 inmates at the site. While 35 detainees have been approved for transfer to other nations, the plan proposes moving the remaining detainees to one of 13 unnamed prisons in the US.

關塔那摩監獄設立於15年前，用來關押在阿富汗俘獲的囚犯。目前裏面關着91名囚犯，其中35人已獲批轉至其他國家，而上述計劃建議將剩下的囚犯轉至美國境內13所未具名監獄中的一所。

“For many years, it’s been clear that the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay does not advance our national security,” Mr Obama said on Tuesday. “Guantánamo harms our partnerships with allies and other countries, whose co-operation we need against terrorism . . . It is viewed as a stain on our broader record of upholding the highest standards of rule of law.”

奧巴馬在週二表示：“多年來，關塔那摩灣的這座關押設施顯然並未提升我們的國家安全。關塔那摩監獄破壞了我們與盟國及其他國家的合作關係，而我們需要這種合作來打擊恐怖主義……在人們眼中，關塔那摩監獄是我們捍衛最高標準法治的整個記錄中的一個污點。”

Guantánamo has remained a thorn in the side of the administration since Mr Obama took office in 2008, following a presidential campaign in which he made closing the site one of the pillars of his foreign policy, along with ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While critics of Guantánamo argue that it serves as a recruiting tool for terrorists, proponents of keeping it open say that it helps prevent future terrorist attacks against the US.

自奧巴馬2008年上任以來，關塔那摩監獄就一直是奧巴馬政府的眼中釘。在競選總統時，奧巴馬曾表示，關閉關塔那摩監獄以及結束伊拉克和阿富汗戰爭是他外交政策的支柱。雖然關塔那摩監獄的批評者聲稱該監獄起到了恐怖分子招募工具的作用，但支持繼續設立這座監獄的人士表示，它有助於防範未來針對美國的恐怖襲擊。

During his seven years in office, Mr Obama has failed to persuade Congress to help him close the prison. Congress has passed measures that ban the administration from moving detainees from Guantánamo to US soil. Most of the Republican presidential contenders have vowed to keep the prison open.

奧巴馬在任7年以來，一直未能說服國會幫他關閉這座監獄。美國國會已通過法令，禁止政府將關塔那摩監獄關押的囚犯轉至美國境內。大多數共和黨總統競選人都發誓要繼續設立這座監獄。

In urging Congress to work with his administration, Mr Obama on Tuesday said he was “clear-eyed about the hurdles to finally closing Guantánamo”. To make his case, he argued that his predecessor, George W Bush, had wanted to close the site. He also stressed that the military commissions being used to try 10 detainees — including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed — at Guantánamo had not produced “a single verdict”.

週二，奧巴馬在勸說國會與政府合作時表示，他“對最終關閉關塔那摩監獄面臨的障礙有着清楚的認識”。爲了證明自己的觀點，他指出他的前任小布什(George W Bush)也曾想關閉這一場所。奧巴馬還強調，用來審判10名關塔那摩監獄囚犯（其中包括涉嫌策劃了“九一一”事件的哈立德•謝赫•穆罕默德(Khaled Sheikh Mohammed)）的特別軍事法庭連“一個判決”都沒有做出。

Mr Obama argued that the site, which last year cost $450m to run, was a big financial ling claims that it would pose a threat to US security or complicate efforts to try the detainees, he pointed out that federal courts have already convicted terrorists such as Richard Reid, the shoe bomber.

關塔那摩監獄去年運營開銷達4.5億美元，奧巴馬認爲該監獄是一項巨大的財政負擔。他駁斥了關閉該場所將對美國安全構成威脅或使在押犯審判工作複雜化的說法，指出聯邦法院已爲一些恐怖分子定了罪，比如“鞋子炸彈手”理查德•裏德(Richard Reid)。