VOA标准英语2013--9/11 Suspects Get New Hearings at Guantanamo

（单词翻译）

9/11 Suspects Get New Hearings at Guantanamo

More than 11 years after the attacks, the case drags on in a Guantanamo Bay naval¹ base courtroom. 

The proceedings² are best characterized by the defiance³ and antics displayed by alleged⁴ ringleader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four other suspects -- accused of nearly 3,000 counts of murder.

At their arraignment⁵ in May, the suspects ignored the judge, had an outburst, and one of them began undressing in front of the court. 

This set of hearings will have the defense⁶ trying to get the charges thrown out -- on the argument that the proceedings are illegitimate. Defense attorneys want former U.S. President George W. Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to be called as witnesses -- to testify on their role in ordering alleged torture and establishing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Jennifer Daskal, a Georgetown University law professor who has been vocal⁷ on the Guantanamo proceedings, says the suspects’ antics would likely not have gone so far if the case were being tried in a U.S. federal civilian⁸ court.

“The judge and the participants, they’re bending over backwards⁹ to make it appear as if the system is fair. And so, in a situation like that, the judge, it appears to me, is giving the defendants¹⁰ way more leeway than you would ever see in federal court where judges would just shut those kinds of antics down in an instant,” Daskal said.

The U.S. government’s decision to hold the trial at Guantanamo Bay and keep detainees imprisoned¹¹ there has sparked protests among American anti-war activists¹².

President Obama promised to close it down, but did not.

Daskal was among those calling for closure of the facility when it first opened. But she has since changed her mind.

“There are no more tortures going on in Guantanamo, and conditions have improved significantly. The thing that we’re left with is detention¹³ without charge, and, in the current political and legal climate, closing Guantanamo is not going to change that. Closing Guantanamo simply means moving some core subset of Guantanamo detainees to some other place where they’re detained without charge and most likely in much worse conditions,” Daskal said.

It is not clear whether the five defendants will show up for these hearings. 

But a few relatives of some of the nearly 3,000 victims will be there -- as they have been since the start of the proceedings. For them, the wait for justice continues.