关塔那摩监狱终将退出历史舞台

The Path to Closing Guantánamo

关塔那摩监狱终将退出历史舞台

WHEN I began as the State Department’s envoy for closing the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, many people advised me that progress was impossible. They were wrong.

当我开始担任国务院(State Department)特使，负责关闭古巴关塔那摩监狱(Guantánamo Bay)事宜时，很多人都劝告我，称不可能取得进展。他们错了。

In the two years before I started, on July 1, 2013, only four people were transferred from Guantánamo. Over the past 18 months, we moved 39 people out of there, and more transfers are coming. The population at Guantánamo — 127 — is at its lowest level since the facility opened in January 2002. We also worked with Congress to remove unnecessary obstacles to foreign transfers. We began an administrative process to review the status of detainees not yet approved for transfer or formally charged with crimes.

我从2013年7月1日开始从事这项工作，在这之前的两年时间里，只有四人被转移出关塔那摩监狱。在过去18个月中，我们转出39人，并且还有更多人会被转走。关塔那摩现在关押了127名囚犯，这是自该监狱于2002年1月启用以来的最低水平。我们还与国会(Congress)合作，清除阻碍海外转移工作的不必要的障碍。我们开启了一个行政程序，评估那些尚未获得转移批准或遭到犯罪指控的囚犯的情况。

While there have been zigs and zags, we have made great progress. The path to closing Guantánamo during the Obama administration is clear, but it will take intense and sustained action to finish the job. The government must continue and accelerate the transfers of those approved for release. Administrative review of those not approved for transfer must be expedited. The absolute and irrational ban on transfers to the United States for any purpose, including detention and prosecution, must be changed as the population is reduced to a small core of detainees who cannot safely be transferred overseas. (Ten detainees, for example, face criminal charges before the military commissions that Congress set up in lieu of regular courts.)

虽然一路曲折，但我们取得了重大进展。在奥巴马政府执政期间关闭关塔那摩监狱的路线已经非常清晰，但需要大力开展持续行动，才能完成工作。政府必须继续并加快转移那些获准释放的在押人员。必须加快对那些没有获得转移批准的在押人员的行政评估。必须更改禁止出于任何目的——包括关押和起诉——将在押人员转移到美国的荒谬禁令，因为在押人员不断减少，只剩下少数无法安全转移到海外的囚犯。(例如那十名遭到犯罪指控的囚犯，审判他们的将会是国会设立的代替普通法院的军事委员会)。

The reasons for closing Guantánamo are more compelling than ever. As a high-ranking security official from one of our staunchest allies on counterterrorism (not from Europe) once told me, “The greatest single action the United States can take to fight terrorism is to close Guantánamo.” I have seen firsthand the way in which Guantánamo frays and damages vitally important security relationships with countries around the world. The eye-popping cost — around $3 million per detainee last year, compared with roughly $75,000 at a “supermax” prison in the United States — drains vital resources.

关闭关塔那摩监狱的理由比以往任何时候都更充分。就像一个非常忠实的反恐盟国(不是欧洲国家)的高层安全官员告诉我的那样，“美国在反恐方面能够采取的最重大的单边行动就是关闭关塔那摩监狱。”我亲眼目睹了关塔那摩监狱是如何破坏、损害美国与世界各国之间重要的安全关系的。其巨额成本——去年每名在押人员耗费的资金大约为300万美元(约合1865万元人民币)，而美国“超高安全级别”监狱的费用约为每人7.5万美元——耗费了重要资源。

Americans from across the spectrum agree on closing Guantánamo. President George W. Bush called it “a propaganda tool for our enemies and a distraction for our allies.” Kenneth L. Wainstein, who advised Mr. Bush on homeland security, said keeping the facility open was not “sustainable.”

美国人普遍同意关闭该监狱 。乔治·W·布什(George W. Bush)总统曾称它是“敌人的宣传工具，令我们的盟友感到心烦”。布什总统的国土安全顾问肯尼斯·L·韦恩斯坦(Kenneth L. Wainstein)表示，保留关塔那摩监狱不是“长久之计”。

In 18 months at the State Department, I was sometimes frustrated by opposition to closing the facility in Congress and some corners of Washington. It reflects three fundamental misconceptions that have impeded the process.

在国务院工作的18个月里，国会及华盛顿某些角落发出的反对关闭关塔那摩监狱的声音有时让我感到很沮丧。这反映出阻碍进程的三大根本误解。

First, not every person at Guantánamo is a continuing danger. Of the 127 individuals there (from a peak of close to 800), 59 have been “approved for transfer.” This means that six agencies — the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and State, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence — have unanimously approved the person for release based on everything known about the individual and the risk he presents. For most of those approved, this rigorous decision was made half a decade ago. Almost 90 percent of those approved are from Yemen, where the security situation is perilous. They are not “the worst of the worst,” but rather people with the worst luck. (We recently resettled several Yemenis in other countries, the first time any Yemeni had been transferred from Guantánamo in more than four years.)

第一，并非所有在押人员都会继续带来危险。在127名在押人员(最多的时候达到800名)中，有59人“获准转移”。这意味着，六大部门——国防部 (Departments of Defense)、国土安全部(Homeland Security)、司法部和国务院，以及参谋长联席会议(Joint Chiefs of Staff)和国家情报总监办公室——根据关于在押人员的所有信息及他们的风险程度，一致批准释放这些人。从大多数获准释放的在押人员来看，这种缜密的决定都是在五年前做出的。将近90%的获准转移的在押人员来自也门，也门的安全形势非常危险。他们并不是“恶人中的恶人”，只是运气很差。(我们最近让几名也门人迁居至其他国家，这是在四年多的时间里，也门人首次被转移出关塔那摩监狱。)

Second, opponents of closing Guantánamo — including former Vice President Dick Cheney — cite a 30 percent recidivism rate among former detainees. This assertion is deeply flawed. It combines those “confirmed” of having engaged in hostile activities with those “suspected.” Focusing on the “confirmed” slashes the percentage nearly in half. Moreover, many of the “confirmed” have been killed or recaptured.

第二，包括迪克·切尼(Dick Cheney)在内的反对关闭关塔那摩监狱的人士声称，前囚犯的再犯罪率达到了30%。这种说法存在巨大缺陷。他们将“已经证实”参与敌对活动的人与那些 “涉嫌”参与的人混为一谈。如果只看那些“已经证实”参与敌对活动的人，再犯罪率就只有他们所说的一半。而且，其中很多人已经死亡或再次被捕。

Most important, there is a vast difference between those transferred before 2009, when President Obama ordered the intensive review process by the six agencies, and those transferred after that review. Of the detainees transferred during this administration, more than 90 percent have not been suspected, much less confirmed, of committing any hostile activities after their release. The percentage of detainees who were transferred after the Obama-era review and then found to have engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities is 6.8 percent. While we want that number to be zero, that small percentage does not justify holding in perpetuity the overwhelming majority of detainees, who do not subsequently engage in wrongdoing.

最重要的是，在2009年奥巴马命令六大部门开展集中评估前后获得转移的在押人员之间存在巨大差异。在奥巴马执政期间获得转移的在押人员中，逾 90%的人获释后没有实施敌对活动的嫌疑，更不用说被证实开展这类活动。在奥巴马下令进行评估后获得转移，然后又被发现参与恐怖或叛乱行动的人员占了 6.8%。虽然我们希望这个比例为零，但这么小的比例无法成为永久关押绝大多数囚犯的正当理由，毕竟这些人之后不会参与不法活动。

Third, a common impression is that we cannot find countries that will accept detainees from Guantánamo. One of the happiest surprises of my tenure was that this is not the case. Many countries, from Slovakia and Georgia to Uruguay, have been willing to provide homes for individuals who cannot return to their own countries. Support from the Organization of American States, the Vatican and other religious and human rights organizations has also been helpful.

第三，大家普遍认为，我们无法找到能够接收关塔那摩监狱囚犯的国家。但情况并非如此，这是我担任特使期间发现的最大惊喜之一。很多国家——从斯洛伐克到格鲁吉亚，再到乌拉圭，都愿意为那些无法回到祖国的囚犯提供居所。美洲国家组织(Organization of American States)、梵蒂冈，以及其他宗教、人权组织的支持也颇有帮助。

I don’t question the motives of those who oppose the efforts to close Guantánamo. Some are constrained by an overabundance of caution, refusing to trust the extensive security reviews that are in place. Others are hampered by an outdated view of the risk posed by many of the remaining detainees. A third group fails to recognize that the deep stain on our standing in the world is more dangerous than any individual approved for transfer. These concerns, however well-intentioned, collapse in the glare of a careful examination of the facts.

我不质疑那些反对关闭关塔那摩监狱的人士的动机。一些人过于谨慎，拒绝相信已经开展的大规模安全评估的结果。其他人则持有陈旧观点，认为剩下的囚犯中有很多人会带来危险。还有一群人没能认识到，如果我们在世界上的形象蒙上污点，这比获准转移的在押人员更危险。这些担忧虽然是出于好意，但仔细核查事实就会发现，它们并不成立。