白色房间酷刑——人类历史上最残酷的惩罚：英语精读讲义

You would have preferred that they just went ahead and broke your bones 講解

你宁愿他们干脆打断你的骨头

or perhaps ram your head under freezing cold water

或者把你的头按进冰冷刺骨的水里

until you thought you were drowning.

直到你以为自己快要淹死。

It would have been much better than the whiteness,

那也会比这一片惨白好受得多，

that deafening, unrelenting whiteness. 習語

这片震耳欲聋、无休无止的惨白。

For months on end, 短語搭配

一连几个月，

you saw no colors at all.

你看不到任何色彩。

The cell was white,

牢房是白色的，

the walls,

墙壁、

the door,

门，

and the floor.

还有地板。

Your clothes were white,

你的衣服是白色的，

and all day and night

而且从早到晚、日复一日，

they kept a bright white light shining. 語法

他们始终让一盏亮白的灯照着你。

When they put food through the door,

他们从门缝给你送食物时，

it was always the same dish,

永远都是同一道饭，

white rice on a white plate.

白盘子里盛着白米饭。

Never did you hear any voices 語法

你从来听不到任何人的声音，

except those inside your head.

除了脑海里的那些声音。

If you wanted to use the bathroom,

如果你想上厕所，

you had to slip a piece of white paper under the door,

你必须从门下塞出一张白纸，

then guards wearing padded shoes

然后，穿软底鞋的守卫

would shuffle along silently

就会悄无声息地拖着脚走来，

to open the door,

打开门，

and then you could use the white bathroom.

接着你才能使用白色的卫生间。

After months of this,

几个月下来，

you started to forget who you were.

你开始忘记自己是谁。

The voices in your head became real.

脑海里的声音变成了现实。

You couldn't even remember what your parents looked like. 語法

你甚至记不起父母长什么样。

Welcome to the world of white torture. 表達脈絡

欢迎来到白色酷刑的世界。

What we just described to you

我们刚才描述的情形

is what sometimes is called an enhanced interrogation technique.

有时被称为“强化审讯手段”。

And in this case,

而在这个案例中，

what is referred to as extreme sensory deprivation. 講解

它被称为“极端感官剥夺”。

The person who suffered it is one Amir Fakhravar,

遭受这种酷刑的人名叫 Amir Fakhravar，

a former prisoner in Iran.

他曾是伊朗的一名囚犯。

His crime was being critical of the Iranian regime.

他的“罪行”是批评伊朗政权。

As an activist in the late '90s and early 2000s,

20世纪90年代末至21世纪初，他是一名活动人士，

he said he was imprisoned and interrogated on a number of occasions.

据他说，自己曾多次被监禁和审讯。

He said that he's been beaten to the extent 語法

他说，自己曾遭到毒打，严重到

that his bones were broken,

骨头都被打断，

but nothing, nothing was as brutal as white torture.

但没有什么，真的没有什么，像白色酷刑一样残忍。

The good news for him is when he got out

好消息是，他获释后，

after spending eight months in that white room,

在那间白色牢房里熬过八个月的他

he managed to flee Iran and moved to the USA.

设法逃离伊朗，移居美国。

He was lucky.

他很幸运。

Other former regime critics

其他曾批评该政权的人

who have had a stay at the notorious Evin prison in Iran

也曾被关进伊朗臭名昭著的埃文监狱，

have described how some inmates were tortured to death there.

他们描述了那里一些囚犯被折磨致死的情形。

Some prisoners have been executed at Evin,

有些囚犯在埃文监狱被处决，

others had parts of them amputated, 語法

另一些人身体的某些部位被截肢，

some have been blinded,

有些人被弄瞎，

and most were kept in what has been called horrific conditions.

大多数人则被关在所谓的骇人环境中。

Let's stick with Iran for a minute 表達脈絡

我们先继续说说伊朗，

and hear what an Iranian journalist named Ebrahim Nabavi

听听一位名叫 Ebrahim Nabavi 的伊朗记者

had to say about white torture.

对白色酷刑有何评价。

In 2004, he got on the phone to Human Rights Watch.

2004年，他致电人权观察。

This is part of the conversation.

以下是部分通话内容。

Since I left Evin, 語法

“自从离开埃文监狱后，

I've not been able to sleep without sleeping pills.

没有安眠药，我就再也睡不着。

It is terrible.

这太可怕了。

The loneliness never leaves you long after you're free. 習語

即使重获自由很久，孤独感也始终挥之不去。

Every door that's closed on you.

每一扇在你面前关上的门……

This is why we call it white torture.

这就是我们称它为白色酷刑的原因。

They get what they want

他们能得到想要的一切

without having to hit you. 語法

而根本不用打你。

You begin to break,

你开始崩溃，

and once you break,

一旦你崩溃，

they have control.

他们就掌控了你。

And then you begin to confess.

接着，你便开始招供。”

Another former prisoner in one of Iran's white cells

另一名曾被关进伊朗白色牢房的囚犯

described it like this.

是这样描述的。

After three days,

“三天之后，

it becomes so, so difficult.

一切就会变得异常、异常难熬。

Different people break at different times.

每个人崩溃的时间都不同。

We used to talk about when people would break. 語法

我们过去常谈论一个人会在何时崩溃。

Some people broke after a few days,

有些人几天后就崩溃了，

some could last months much, much longer.

有些人却能撑上几个月，久得多。

It is absolute silence.

那里绝对寂静。

After three days,

三天之后，

I just wanted any words,

我只想听到任何一句话，

even if it was swearing, 語法

哪怕是脏话，

even if it was a harsh interrogation.

哪怕是一场严厉的审讯。”

In a nutshell, 表達脈絡

简而言之，

that's what white torture is all about,

白色酷刑的核心

breaking a person.

就是摧毁一个人。

It's when a government,

这是一个政府，

and as you'll see,

而且你接下来会看到，

not only the Iranian government,

不只是伊朗政府，

wants a person to experience hell,

想让一个人亲历地狱时所采用的手段，

and so they tell them what they want to know.

这样，那个人就会把政府想知道的一切说出来。

It leaves no bruises, no scars, 表達脈絡

它不会留下淤青或伤疤，

except for the ones of the psychological kind.

除了心理上的创伤。

Has this ever happened to prisoners housed in the USA? 語法

美国关押的囚犯遭遇过这种事吗？

According to Human Rights organizations,

根据人权组织的说法，

the answer is yes.

答案是肯定的。

The New York Times in 2019

2019年，《纽约时报》

talked about the CIA's torture program,

报道了中央情报局的酷刑计划，

the enhanced interrogation techniques 用詞

也就是那些“强化审讯手段”，

that have been used at Guantanamo Bay

它们曾被用于关塔那摩湾

and other black sites, 文化背景

以及其他秘密黑狱，

such as a secret prison the CIA had in Thailand.

例如中央情报局设在泰国的一座秘密监狱。

The techniques used included things such as keeping men in stress positions 用詞

这些手段包括强迫男子保持痛苦姿势，

so they couldn't sleep for days

让他们连续几天无法入睡；

or waterboarding prisoners, 用詞

或对囚犯实施水刑；

or keeping men confined in a small box

或把人关进一个小箱子里，

where they couldn't properly sit.

让他们连端正坐下都做不到。

The organization called European Democratic Lawyers

名为“欧洲民主律师”的组织

wrote that interrogatory technicians

写道，审讯人员

working at the Guantanamo facility

在关塔那摩设施工作时

would sometimes take men and cover their eyes and ears.

有时会把男子带走，蒙住他们的眼睛并堵住耳朵。

They then put thick gloves on the prisoners' hands

接着，他们会给囚犯的双手戴上厚手套

and tie their feet.

并绑住其双脚。

This kind of sensory deprivation was called a kind of white torture, 習語

这种感官剥夺被称为一种白色酷刑，

but it sounds more like dark torture.

但听起来更像是黑暗酷刑。

Still, the outcome is the same.

不过，结果都一样。

The prisoner begins to lose his mind.

囚犯开始失去理智。

A similar thing went down at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, 短語動詞

类似的事情也发生在伊拉克的阿布格莱布监狱，

and the world got to know about this

而全世界之所以得知此事，

after a series of photos were released.

是因为后来曝光了一系列照片。

The US Army would at times dress men in boiler suits,

美国陆军有时会给这些男子穿上连体工作服，

tie them, put masks over their mouths,

把他们绑起来，用面罩封住他们的嘴，

and cover their eyes and ears.

并蒙住他们的眼睛、堵住耳朵。

The result of the torture would always be a numbing of the prisoner's senses,

这种酷刑总会让囚犯的感官变得麻木，

so much so that they began to mentally unravel. 講解

甚至令他们的精神开始崩溃。

But the British were doing a similar thing

但英国人早就在做类似的事，

a long time before it happened in Iraq.

远早于它在伊拉克发生之前。

In the '70s, people suspected of being involved with the Irish Republican Army 短語搭配

20世纪70年代，被怀疑与爱尔兰共和军有关的人

were taken from their homes or off the streets

会从家中或街头被带走，

without standing trial. 短語搭配

而且未经审判。

They were then taken to a secret interrogation center

随后，他们会被带到一座秘密审讯中心，

and were put through something called the five techniques. 講解

遭受所谓的“五种手段”。

Those were hooding, wall standing,

这五种手段分别是蒙头、贴墙站立，

deprivation of sleep, subjection to noise,

剥夺睡眠、持续噪声刺激，

and deprivation of food and drink.

以及剥夺食物和饮水。

When the men were in their cells,

这些男子待在牢房里时，

they were handcuffed and hooded,

会被铐住双手、套上头罩，

so they were literally in the dark all the time. 習語

因此，他们实际上一直身处黑暗之中。

To make things worse, 表達脈絡

更糟的是，

the British continuously played a recording of a hissing noise,

英国人还会连续播放嘶嘶声的录音，

or what's being called a kind of white noise. 用詞

也就是所谓的一种白噪声。

The prisoners might at time get kicked in the groin,

囚犯有时可能会被踢中下体，

having not even knowing someone had entered their cell.

甚至都不知道有人进入了牢房。

This created constant stress and the inability to sleep.

这会造成持续的压力，让人无法入睡。

What was the object of this sensory deprivation? 用詞

这种感官剥夺的目的是什么？

It was to cause the worst kind of depression,

就是引发最严重的抑郁，

crippling anxiety, 短語搭配

令人崩溃的焦虑，

and after a while,

再过一段时间，

hallucinations and even a loss of consciousness.

还会出现幻觉，甚至失去意识。

The Brits used it in the Iraq War too

英国人在伊拉克战争中也使用过这种手段，

and imported it to the US, Israel, and Brazil.

还把它传到了美国、以色列和巴西。

How do countries get away with this? 短語動詞

各国怎么能这样做了还不受惩罚？

Well, they say it's not strictly torture 表達脈絡

因为他们声称这并不能严格算作酷刑，

and more enhanced interrogation,

更应该叫作强化审讯，

something human rights groups have been criticizing for years. 語法

而人权组织多年来一直在批评这种说法。

In Venezuela, the authorities have their own unique take on white torture. 短語搭配

在委内瑞拉，当局对白色酷刑还有自己独特的做法。

Underneath a building in the city of Caracas,

在卡拉卡斯市的一栋建筑下方，

there's a place called La Tumba, or the tomb in English. 文化背景

有个地方叫 La Tumba，英文意为“坟墓”。

There, prisoners are kept in tiny cells,

在那里，囚犯会被关进狭小的牢房，

cells that are painted white.

牢房全部被漆成白色。

They're not allowed any interaction with guards or other prisoners,

他们不得与守卫或其他囚犯有任何接触，

and they can hear no sounds.

也听不到任何声音。

All day and night,

从早到晚，日复一日，

a bright light shines in their cell.

牢房里始终照着一盏明亮的灯。

And so after a while,

因此，过了一段时间后，

the prisoners have no idea what time it is.

囚犯就完全不知道当时是几点。

Not surprisingly,

不出所料，

there are reports of some of them trying to kill themselves. 表達脈絡

有报道称，其中一些人试图自杀。

Others might suffer from vomiting, diarrhea, or hallucinations.

另一些人可能会呕吐、腹泻或产生幻觉。

One mother of an inmate told the media,

一名囚犯的母亲告诉媒体：

"He's buried alive, 習語

“他就像被活埋了一样，

practically waiting to die."

几乎只能等死。”

Could you survive white torture? 表達脈絡

你能熬过白色酷刑吗？

We doubt it.

我们对此表示怀疑。

We doubt anyone could get through white torture 短語動詞

我们不相信有任何人能经历白色酷刑后

without succumbing to madness. 短語搭配

不陷入疯狂。

Human Rights Watch spoke to a former inmate of a place called Prison 59 in Iran.

人权观察采访过一名曾被关押在伊朗“59号监狱”的囚犯。

That prisoner had seen the isolation cells

这名囚犯见过那些隔离牢房，

and had this to say about them. 表達脈絡

并这样评价它们：

"I cannot imagine spending one night in those solitary cells 語法

“我无法想象在那些单人禁闭室里待上一晚

without losing my mind."

而不发疯。”

And it's not just about what happens in the white rooms, 語法

问题不只是在白色牢房里会遭遇什么，

but what happens once you get out.

还包括离开后会发生什么。

As one former detainee in Iran said,

正如伊朗一名前被拘留者所说：

"I went in as one person 表達脈絡

“进去时，我还是一个人，

and came out another person."

出来时却成了另一个人。”

Now, you need to watch this.

现在，你得看看这个。

Crucifixion, worst punishments in the history of mankind.

十字架刑：人类历史上最残酷的刑罚。

Or have a look at this,

或者看看这个：

boiling alive, worst punishments in the history of mankind.

活活煮死：人类历史上最残酷的刑罚。