美千名學生控訴校警使用"化學武器"

A group of school pupils in Alabama is suing the local education authority for running a "polite state" in which officers are allegedly using "chemical weapons" to enforce discipline.

美國阿拉巴馬州一間學校的學生們起訴當地教育部門，在美國這樣一個高度文明的國家裏，校內警務人員竟然使用"化學武器"執行紀律管理。

Seven students in Birmingham, Alabama, have filed a class action lawsuit against the city's education board and the local police force over the frequent use of mace, or pepper spray, in schools. The spray is readily used to "enforce basic school discipline", the lawsuit claims, and "school personnel not only watch, but sometimes even celebrate when schoolchildren are beaten".

7名阿拉巴馬州（最大城市）伯明翰的學生對當地教育委員會和校內警務人員提起訴訟，理由是警務人員在學校裏頻繁使用權杖和胡椒噴霧等武器來"維持學校基礎紀律"。這些學生控訴："學校工作人員不只是眼睜睜地看學生被權杖打，有事甚至還偷着樂或者慶祝。"

The city has police officers in every school under a scheme designed to ensure the safety of pupils, the lawsuit states. But "officers have abandoned their primary mission", allege the pupils.

訴訟稱，伯明翰爲了確保學生安全，在每個學校都安置了部分警務人員。但學生們聲稱，這些警務人員並沒有從事他們該做的主要任務。

Teachers call them in to handle even "minor incidents of childish misbehavior", including pupils swearing, claim the pupils, who are aged between 16 and 19.

They are being represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the renowned civil rights group, and claim to have been "brutalized with chemical weapons and other excessive force". One boy claims that while he was in ninth grade - between 14 and 15 years old - he and others standing near a fight between two pupils were sprayed in the face by a police officer.

這些學生年齡介於16到19歲之間，他們稱學校警務人員讓他們處理一些"幼稚的小事"，包括學生的宣誓。目前著名的民權組織南方貧困法律中心 (Southern Poverty Law Center)答應幫助他們，並表示"警務人員在學校裏過度使用武力及化學武器摧殘學生。"一名男孩稱，在九年級的時候，那時他大概是14或15歲，他曾和另外兩名學生被罰站，期間一名警務人員往其中兩名學生臉上噴胡椒噴霧。They list the potential damage to the eyes and throat that can be caused by frequent subjection to pepper spray, especially to pupils with health conditions such as asthma. The lawsuit, which is filed on behalf of the 8,000 pupils in Birmingham, seeks damages and demands officials "immediately abandon the use of chemical and other weapons" against schoolchildren.

這起訴訟由7名學生代表8000名在伯明翰就學的學生提出，他們稱常有學生被往眼睛和喉嚨噴胡椒噴霧，這會給學生帶來潛在的健康損害，尤其損害患有哮喘的學生的健康。他們要求相關官員"立即停止對學生使用化學和其他武器"。

目前該學校董事會沒有對此做出迴應。