我們身邊的奴役

　　據(jù)估計，在英國工作的外籍家庭傭人有兩萬多人。通常，他們是被外國商人、外交官和從國外歸來的英國人帶來的。根據(jù)某個設在倫敦的幫助在英國做工的外籍傭人的政治組織說，兩萬名傭人中有近兩千人被他們的雇主剝削、虐待。虐待有多種形式：家仆常不許外出或得不到工錢;有的家仆還受到肉體、性或精神方面的虐待;還有的護照遭到?jīng)]收，這樣他們走也走不了，逃也逃不掉。

　　今年早些時候引起大眾高度注意的事件中，全世界女傭的悲慘狀況得到了媒體的注意。其中一件是，一個菲律賓女傭在被判殺謀殺罪后，在新加坡被處決，盡管各方面都抗議她的罪行尚未充分證實。一些組織如"反奴役國際"稱還有一些案件雖然沒有菲律賓女傭案那么具有戲劇性，也同樣值得關注。如在倫敦做事的菲籍女傭迪亞加西亞一案："1989年一個沙特外交官直接把我從菲律賓雇來到倫敦工作。說是一個月120鎊，但多從沒有拿過那么多。她還經(jīng)常嚇唬我，說要把我送回國去。"

　　此外，還有來自斯里蘭卡的庫馬里事件。她家主要靠她賺錢維持生計，她曾在斯里蘭卡一家茶場掙一份微薄的工資。因為她發(fā)現(xiàn)很難養(yǎng)活她的四個孩子，就接受了在倫敦做傭人的一份工作。她說在倫敦那所她工作的房子里感覺像個囚犯。"不放假，也不讓休息，連一口像樣的飯也吃不上。而且我沒有自己的房間，讓我睡在壁櫥的隔板上，躺上去，身子離上面的隔板只有三尺來高，還不容許我跟別人說話，連窗戶也不讓開。雇主動不動就嚇唬說要向內政部或警察告我的狀。"

　　1993年末英國政府采取了新措施，保護家傭不再受雇主的欺負。其中包括把雇傭的年齡提高到18歲，讓雇傭新聞記者并理解一份有建議的宣傳材料，使雇主同意提供適當?shù)纳�活費用和條件，把工作的主要條款和條件形成文字。

　　但是，這些措施能否有效地減少虐待的發(fā)生，很多人感到懷疑。外籍女傭和家仆雖有意對惡劣的生活和工作條件提出控訴，但主要的問題是他們沒有獨立的移民身份，因此不能改換雇主，故而他們敢發(fā)泄不滿的話，就有被遣送回國的可能。

　　做家仆的人有選擇雇主的自由，這也就是"反奴役國際"這類組織努力促使政府去實現(xiàn)的事。這類組織說，正是改換雇主的權利劃清了雇傭和奴役的界限。　Return of The Chain Gang

　　Eyewitnesses say it was a scene straight out of a black and white movie from the 1950s. As the sun rose over the fields of Huntsville, Alabama, in the American South, the convicts got down from the trucks that had brought them there. Watched over by guards with guns, they raised their legs in unison and made their way to the edge of the highway, Interstate 65. The BBC's Washington correspondent Clare Bolderson was there and she sent this report:"They wore white uniforms with the words 'Chain Gang' on their backs and, in groups of five, were shackled together in leg irons joined by an eight-foot chain. The prisoners will work for up to 90 days on the gang: they'll clear ditches of weeds and mend fences along Alabama's main roads. While they are working on the gang, they'll also live in some of the harshest prison conditions in the United States.

　　There'll be no televisions or phone calls; many other day-to-day privileges will be denied."

　　The authorities in Alabama say there is a lot of support for the re-introduction of chain gangs in the State after a gap of 30 years (the last gangs were abolished in Georgia in the early 1960s). Many people believe it is an effective way to get criminals to pay back their debt to society.

　　The prisoners stay shackled when they use toilets. They reacted sharply to the treatment they are given:Prisoner one: "This is like a circus. A zoo. All chained here to a zoo. We're all animals now."

　　Prisoner two: "It's degrading. It's embarrassing."

　　Prisoner three: "In chains. It's slavery!"

　　Six out of every ten prisoners in chains are black, which is why the chain gangs call up images of slavery in centuries gone by, when black people were brought from Africa in leg irons and made to work in plantations owned by white men. Not surprisingly, although three quarters of the white population of Alabama supports chain gangs, only a small number of black people do. Don Claxton, spokesman for the State Government of Alabama, insists that the system is not racist:"This isn't something that's done for racial reasons, for political reasons. This is something that's going to help save the people of Alabama tax money because they don't have to pay as many officers to work on the highways. And it's going to help clean up our highways and it's going to help clean up the State."

　　However, the re-introduction of these measures has caused a great deal of strong disagreement. Human rights organizations say that putting prisoners in chains is not only inhumane but also ineffective.

　　Alvin Bronstein, member of the Civil Liberties Union, says that study after study has shown that you cannot prevent people from committing crimes by punishment or the threat of punishment: "What they will do is make prisoners more angry, more hostile, so that when they get out of prison, they will increase the level of their criminal behaviour."

　　Civil liberties groups say that chaining people together doesn't solve the causes of crime, such as poverty or disaffection within society. What it does is punish prisoners for the ills of society.　They say the practice takes the United States back to the Middle Ages, and that it is a shame to American society. But that's not an argument likely to win favour among many people in the Deep South of the United States. Alabama's experiment is to be widened to include more prisoners, and other States, such as Arkansas and Arizona, will very probably introduce their own chain gang schemes.

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