11-22-2005

北京称重视UN酷刑特使调查 (China 'Attaches Importance' to Visit by UN Envoy on Torture)

中国外交部说，北京高度重视联合国酷刑特使曼弗雷德.诺瓦克这个星期开始对中国的访问。外交部发言人刘建超星期二说，中国希望弗雷德.诺瓦克的访问能有助于增进相互了解，加强双边合作。诺瓦克星期二对英国广播公司(BBC)记者说，北京承认中国监狱普遍存在虐待犯人的情况。

中国法律禁止刑讯逼供，不过人权组织说，实际上酷刑一直被用来逼取口供。

诺瓦克前往中国的几天之前，曾拒绝了美国对他考察在古巴关塔那摩湾美军基地而提出的条件。500多名在反恐战争中于阿富汗和其他地方被抓获的人未经审判一直被关押在那里。

China's Foreign Ministry says Beijing attaches a high level of importance to the visit of the United Nations envoy Manfred Nowak on torture, which began this week. Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Tuesday that China hopes Manfred Nowak's visit can help increase mutual understanding and strengthen bilateral cooperation. Nowak told the BBC Tuesday that Beijing has acknowledged the widespread abuse of prisoners in the nation's jails.

Torture is officially outlawed in China but human rights organizations say it is still used to extract confessions.

Mr. Nowak's trip to China comes a few days after he rejected U.S. terms for a visit to the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, where more than 500 detainees captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the war on terror are held without trial.

美驻伊大使出席仪式险遭不测 (American Ambassador Had a Close Call at a Ceremony in Iraq)

美国和伊拉克高级官员星期二在伊拉克北部出席一次仪式的时候险遭不测。反叛分子向他们发射了一枚迫击炮弹。炮弹落在美伊官员附近，但是没有爆炸。事件发生时，美军部队正在把前总统萨达姆在家乡提克里特的一处宫邸移交给伊拉克部队。这处建筑2003年以后一直被美国军队用做指挥部。

参加仪式的有美国驻伊拉克大使扎勒米.哈利勒扎德和驻伊拉克美军指挥官凯西将军。袭击没有造成人员受伤，交接仪式几分钟之后继续进行。

美国军方报告说，一名美国海军陆战队员星期一在伊拉克西部的作战行动中阵亡。

Senior U.S. and Iraqi officials had a close call at a ceremony they were attending in northern Iraq Tuesday, when insurgents fired a mortar shell. The shell landed near the officials, but did not explode. The incident happened as U.S. forces handed over to Iraqi forces control of a former palace belonging to Saddam Hussein in his hometown of Tikrit. U.S. troops had been using the building as a headquarters since 2003.

At the ceremony were U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and General George Casey, who is the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq. No one was hurt and the handover continued several minutes later.

The U.S. military reports that a Marine was killed Monday during combat operations in western Iraq.