朗文双解词典

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Note added at 26 mins (2007-08-27 23:02:21 GMT)
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Also, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detainee

Detainee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Detainee is a controversial term used by certain governments and their military to refer to individuals held in custody, such as those it does not classify and treat as either prisoners of war or suspects in criminal cases.

The word came into common usage during and after the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), as the U.S. government's term of choice to describe members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda captured in that war. The U.S. government classifies captured enemy combatants as "detainees" because there is no consensus about whether the combatants are "prisoners of war" under the definition found in the Geneva Convention. The controversy arises because the Geneva Convention protects "prisoners of war" but says nothing about "detainees." Many of the detainees of this war were transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, where they are held to this day. These detainees are allowed a trial, but with strong procedural limitations.

It is also used to refer to adolescents who are in police custody, in order to note that they are juveniles (as opposed to being placed formally under arrest).


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Note added at 3 hrs (2007-08-28 02:33:16 GMT)
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“在押犯”通常是指已判刑的人员，是罪犯。但Detainee并不一定有罪，最多只能被称为疑犯或犯罪嫌疑人。所以，不能将Detainee译为“在押犯”。“在押人员”的范围大于被拘留人员，可以包括“在押犯”。通常被拘留人员还不够正式逮捕资格，更谈不上起诉。美国之所以把塔利班和“基地组织”成员关在关塔那摩基地，而不关到美国领土上来，就是为了回避美国的法律。在美国，犯罪嫌疑人被拘留之后，如果检方不能在一定限期内提出足够证据，那就必须将其释放。若检方能够提出一定的证据，就可将其正式逮捕，然后进一步展开司法程序。在法庭最后判决suspect有罪之前，不能将其称为罪犯，因为a suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law。