Introduction

The domain of translation and interpreting professional ethics has been

researched for quite a few years now and some theories were developed and
explained by many professors along the way. A proper definition is the one
given by Professor Michael Cronin who said that translators are travel writers
who bring news from all over the world. (Cronin, 2000: 150). Therefore,
translation is the portal through which the past can be accessed.
(Kuhiwczak & Littau, 2007: 16).
Nowadays, there are around 5,000 to 6,000 languages spoken on Earth so
translation and interpreting appeared as a need for knowledge and cultural
interaction because language is a basic expression between people. Many
researchers published books regarding the principles and theories of
translation. Eugene Nida marked the beginning of translations history with
the first translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek where seventytwo translators participated. In his book Toward a Science of Translating, he
puts forward a more scientific approach to the process of translation. Nidas
statement was that being bilingual is not sufficient in order to work as a
translator/interpreter. Therefore, in to work as a translator or, one should
have experience in language switching, in finding the right symbols
(equivalences) for both languages but also he or she should take into
consideration the cultural contexts. Although translation and interpreting are
closely related, these two are quite different because both of them require
particular

skills,

training

and

knowledge.

Although

translators

and

interpreters have one thing in common: knowledge of languages, the brain

component is very different and this is why excellent translators are, most of
the times, unable to handle interpretation tasks. (Nida, 1964: 146)
In recent years, the concerns for the ethical aspects of both translation
and interpreting have increased. Given the recent developments, the
pressure on professional translators and interpreters has been increasing
because clients expect no more than top quality of the services they are
paying for. This is why they are often seen as cultural mediators because
their position is a key component between human interactions. As would be

expected, in recent years the conduct of translators and interpreters has

started to be criticised by mass-media when it comes to big events that have
a huge impact in the world such as wars or religious meetings. Somehow
what is difficult nowadays is not finishing the job, but doing it right in order to
reflect on ones decisions and neutrality as truthfully as possible. What needs
to be taken into account is that translation and interpreting can change the
course of life for individuals and even communities, hence the need for
increased accountability for their work. In the words of Mona Baker, like any
other group in society, translators and interpreters are responsible for the
texts and utterances they produce. (Baker, 2006: 105)
The fact that translators and interpreters often act as cultural mediators
brings about a series of other aspects to be considered. Some of these issues,
as mentioned above, might be about war or religion but also about sexuality
or sexual orientation. Sometimes professionals may fail to see the connection
between theory and practice of ethics. Somehow, translators and interpreters
have to see what kind of power they exercise over the opposite person.
Richard W. Brislin presents five types of interpersonal power regarding
translators and interpreters (Ruth A. Roland, 1999: 165):

The attraction power where (a dash would go better here, I think) the
client likes the translator as a person exceeding the professional
boundaries

The expert power where the skills of an interpreter are needed to

ease the communication between monolingual people and bilingual
people.

The reward power where interpreter plays the role of mediator who
will not receive rewards in exchange of his work but will translate and
mediate the desires of one person to another in a positive way.

The coercive power is the opposite of the previous one because the
interpreter or translator can make speakers angry at each other
because of his/her lack of competence in translating their feelings to
one another.

The legitimate power where the interpreter can advise the speaker-

client on when or how it is best to make a certain remark by respecting

the cultural differences. Lets take the example of muslin interpreters.
They have the power to change someones speech. If their client is not
respecting the/their religion or if they are making a disrespectful
statement, the interpreter can persuade him into changing his speech
by telling the client that honour should prevail against anything else. -cred ca ar fi bine sa lucrezi cu pluralul, anume they/clients, ca sa nu
mai ai probleme de gender
In the recent years/over the last few years, guides on ethics have been
developed in order to help translators as well as interpreters to behave as
professionally as possible at their job. The ethical conduct can be a reminder
for translators and interpreters that whatever they do, they have to think
at/about the outcome of their actions. Each translation- interpreting
association has a set of rules which the respective members have to respect
in order to work like professionals. In each code of ethics one can find some
general ethical principles such as (NAATI, 2016)/ ar trebui mutat la sfarsitul
citarii +pagina:
-Respect their clients right to privacy and confidentiality
-Disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest
-Decline to undertake work beyond their competence or accreditation levels
-Relay information accurately and impartially between parties
-Maintain professional detachment and refrain from inappropriate selfpromotion
-Guard against misuse of inside information for personal gain
There is certain urgency in applying such principles and in developing some
personal values in order to protect each ones work from being trashed as if it
were a useless piece of paper. Why is that? o/One might question, but the
answer is based on each ones /everybody's experience. Maybe some want to

protect their work because in the past they were fooled by their clients with,
receiving no payment for their translation or because they had colleagues
that cheated on their trust and for these same reasons one starts to build a
shield in order to leave out what it might harm them--prea lunga fraza.
Another reason why professional ethics was developed and applied by
associations such as AIIC (Association Internationale des Interprtes de
Confrence) were developed and applied is because there are rapid changes
happening in this field where translators and interpreters are starting/start to
become more visible and needed in the international context as a result of
the intensity of violent conflict. Accountability seems to be really important in
all professions nowadays because individuals need to know the impact of
their behaviour and the legal implications which can lead to unwanted
consequences. The general concern is turned towards the ability of
translators and interpreters to balance one ethical obligation against another
in authentic contexts of interaction. (Baker, 2013) That is why universities
try to prepare students for each situation in order to avoid unhappy events
which might impact their careers. However, professional translators and
interpreters are often seen and presented as the means to achieve a purpose
turning them into paid mercenaries. But, in the most recent years, translators
and interpreters have began to raise their voice in order to make others
understand their status by voicing their opinion regarding the ethical
implications of the job. As a reply to their position, agencies such as Foreign
exchange translation, declared that [u]nless ones work involves animal
testing or abortion or a similar topic, translators are unlikely to get political
about their work. (Idem). - -aici n-ar fi rele minime lecturi din eticisti de
clasa, ca Clifford G Christians, John C Merrill, J Vernon Jensen.
Since the beginning of this century brought a lot more violence and wars such
as the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and the war in South Sudan, a
profound approach of professional ethics had to be considered or adopted.
There are and will be numerous cases where translators and interpreters will
be vulnerable and put in situations where they will have to confront a large
list of moral dilemmas. Most certainly, no professional translator or
interpreter would find want to be in the shoes of Mohamed Yousry (an Arabic
translator and interpreter appointed by the court to assist in a terrorism trial)
who was convicted in 2009 for translating a letter from the defendant (Sheikh

Omar Abdel Raman), at the instruction of the attorney (Lynne Stewart), which
Stewart later released to the press (Preston, 2005). What is known is that the
defendant was held in special circumstances which did not allow him to have
any contact with the external world, situation well known by the attorney.
Both the attorney and the translator were held responsible for violating the
procedures and they paid with prison. Apparently Mohamed Yousry acted
beyond his translator status, although he declared in an interview:
"I still don't know what it is that I did that was even wrong, much less illegal.
I followed a process that was designed by the lawyers. They said this is what
we're going to do, and I followed that. That's what lawyers do: They tell you
what's right and what's wrong legally. The fact that I know now that these
lawyers were following a strategy that the government didn't like, that makes
me a criminal?"(Idem)

He believes that he was a collateral damage in a

broken system, but should we accept this? I believe that we have to learn
from mistakes, which is why is so important to have a set of rules, a code of
ethics when it comes to this profession even if we talk about translation or
interpretation.
In this context, I will try to present some important ethical principles in
my thesis by giving examples of situations that happened around the world
and based on the experience of translators and interpreters such as Valerie
Taylor-Bouladon or Michael Cronin who explained in their writings the good
and the bad of these two professions. This thesis will have three chapters, the
first chapter will contain ethical principles in translation, the second chapter
will be about ethical principles in interpreting and the last chapter will have
two surveys which will reinforce the principles presented in the first two
chapters. I want to bring some new data regarding the ethical part of these
two professions and that is why I think is important to find out the opinion of
those who already work in this field, especially in this time when things
change rapidly.

Chapter 1

1. Ethical principles in interpretation

Conference interpreting has been often called as the second oldest
profession in the world. The word interpretation comes from the Latin word
interpres or interpretari which means written and spoken translation. (TaylorBouladon, 2011:8) There is information about this profession since the time of
the ancient Greece. There are stories related to pharaohs and kings where
interpreters are mentioned to stand beside them, as well as documents
related to interpreters where from the time of Caius Julius Caesar, Christopher
Columbus and many more others up to this day. An interesting fact is that
during Caesars time, interpreters were divided into two class system where
they had the principal interpreter and the language boys. The first class
of interpreters were the most important and powerful people of their age
while the latter class was in charge of the usual and basic interpreting tasks.
(Wilss, 1999: 11)
Information regarding interpretations history is found all over the
world. For example, in West Africa interpreters were used since the eight
century because African people were doing commerce with the Arab world.
After the Islam was introduced to the continent, interpreters gained and
important role since they had the mission of rendering the preachers
speeches for the local people. Consequently, a major factor in the
development of interpreting was religion because many people from different
types of religion travelled to other territories in order to spread their beliefs.
For various centuries, until the sixteenth century, interpreters acted as
ambassadors between African empires and European countries. The modern
interpreter appeared in Africa after the independence. At first interpreters
were working only for the government, but later they started to work as freelance conference interpreters on the African market for languages such as
Swahili or Amharic. (Bowen, 2008:35) Another event that helped the
evolution of interpreting was the Age of Exploration which happened until the
early 17th century. During this period, European ships travelled around the

world in order to find new trading routes. As a consequence, in those

expeditions people from different cultures were coming across so there was a
need of interpreters in order to ease the communication between them. One
of the most crucial interpreters during that period was a Nahua woman from
the Mexican Gulf Coast. Her name was Doa Marina, also known as la
Malinche, who served Hernn Corts de Monroy during his expeditions. She
acted as an interpreter, adviser and lover for Corts in his conquest of the
Aztec empire. As it is shown in the writings of conquistadors such as Bernal
Daz del Castillo, Doa Marina saved the life of Corts by warning him that
the emperor Montezuma was planning a trap during their meeting in the
Aztec capital. Even after the loss of power, Doa Marina remained an
important person. Bernal Daz says furthermore that: Without her, Corts
could not handle any dealings with the Indians. For that reason, interpreters
were the only link between the explorers and the native population which led
to the formation of the world we know today. (Taylor-Bouladon, 2011:12)
In the 18th century, Nonhelema worked as an interpreter during the American
Revolution, but also during the French and Indian War. Just like her brother,
Cornstalk who was the leader of the Shawnee nation, Nonhelema was fighting
for peace. She participated in the negotiations between the Shawnee and the
Virginia colonists. She was born around 1720, but not much of her activity is
recorded until 1760. During the rough times she started working with her
brother by promoting diplomacy among the colonist. In 1777, Nonhelema
moved to Western Virginia, into the Fort Randolph. In many situations, she
warned the colonists about the attacks that the Native Americans were
preparing for them. The delegate Patrick Henry trusted Nonhelema and he
used her skills to talk with other Indian tribes in order to invite them to peace
meetings. In the same year, Cornstalk, her nephew and two other Shawnee
men were killed as a punishment for the attacks that the Shawnee tribe did
against the Americans. Still, after this tragedy, Nonhelema remained in the
fort because she believed peace will come along. After the American
Revolution, she moved to a Shawnee tribe in the western part of
Pennsylvania. In 1786, Nonhelema and her children were arrested together
with her husband Moluntha. While in prison she wrote a Shawnee- English
dictionary. Nonhelema died in December 1786, but in the records does not
appear if she was still in prison or free. Although she was a woman, at the

end of the revolution, the Americans recognized Nonhelemas importance as

a diplomatic interpreter. (Frank, 2013:420)
Some of the pioneers in the field were Jean Herbert, Jean-Franois Rozan and
Joseph Paneth. In the 50s, all three published works, making the first steps in
researching the process of oral interpretation. However, it was not until the
80s when interpreters became aware of the importance of systematically
analysing their own activity, through which information started to be
collected. When League of Nations was created, most of the work was done in
consecutive mode, but everything changed when simultaneous interpreting
was introduced for the first time at the International Labour Conference in
Geneva,

Switzerland

in

1927.

(Furmanek,

2004)

The

second

time

simultaneous interpreting was used officially was during the Nuremberg trials
by the colonel Lon Dostert who, a part from being bilingual, believed that
one person is capable of listening and translating at the same time. Many
professionals today praise the effort made at Nuremberg despite the fact
they did not have the technology or the training and language skills of the
present time. After the Second World War, the need for information was huge,
therefore conferences between nations started to appear. As interest in
interpreting rose, local groups of interpreters began to form with the purpose
of offering quality interpreting services. The names of those groups were FLIG
(Free Lance Interpreters of Geneva) or IACIT (International Association of
Conference Interpreters and Translators) and others.
The most important interpreters organization, which still continues to grow
today, is the worldwide known Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC).
The association was founded on 11th of 1953 in Paris by 35 members and
started with two basic and valuable ethical principles which are valuable also
today (Taylor-Bouladon, 2011: 26) :
1: Unity of the profession (permanent and free-lance interpreters carrying
out the same task, with the same responsibility as to quality, integrity and
professionalism should belong to the same association and respect the same
rules) and
2: Universality of the profession: since quality and professional responsibility
criteria apply to all members, whatever country they may be domiciled or
working in, it is essential to avoid geographical separations.

Since that day, the list of ethical principles evolved and now we can proudly
say that each interpreter has the opportunity to read the Code of Ethics given
by the association in order to guide their path along the away. But there is a
secret to success which is that a good interpreter should be humble, modest
and invisible. It is desirable that an interpreter has to be a person of high
moral character, honest, conscientious, trustworthy, and of emotional
maturity, but success is based largely on the skills of the interpreter. (Cokely,
2014) Since the eighties, interest in giving proper, solid trainings to
interpreters has grown and besides improving the language skills, schools
have introduced courses about professional ethics in order to prepare fully
skilled interpreters. The professional conduct, the good relationship with
clients, colleagues, companies all of this provide a better environment and a
better quality of the job. The professional identity is very important because
it can place interpreters in a good or a bad position depending on their skills.
What we have to understand is that our conduct and the preparation done
throughout the years can lead to a successful career, but the most important
thing interpreters have to cope with is that most of the times they will not
work for those who really need interpreters, but for those who have the
money to pay for the interpreting services.

Fidelity, neutrality, accuracy

Generally speaking when it comes to fidelity, interpreters know that they

should be loyal to those who are paying for their services. Loyalty can be a
difficult thing to digest during a crisis or a difficult situation that might imply
the life of the client because each ones has its own values and principles
which will come to the surface. The real life context can be very different
from the one practice in a class-room. From the start interpreters learn they
have to render everything they hear. But there are situations were one
cannot render everything, then what is the solution? Lets take the situation
of a non-speaking old patient who keeps coming to the hospital. The
conversation between the nurse and the doctor, in front of the patient,
sounds like this: he is going to keep coming here until he dies, until he gets
pneumonia and finally Some will think that this cannot be rendered with
ease because the patient is old and he might die by hearing the
interpretation. The solution as it is explained further one by the interpreter is

that the one who is interpreting has to ask the doctor if the conversation
should be rendered, and if not then the conversation should be held outside.
(Baker, 2013)
Neutrality is another key component in a balanced life of an interpreter. One
cannot practice this job without being neutral. One reason is because it might
affect interpreters to the point of breaking down or they might go literary
crazy because their power cannot go further than their words. For example, I
recently read an article in the New York Times about ethics and moral values.
In the article, the English-French translator, Simon Fortin had a dilemma.
Should one person accept a job if he or she feels ethically compromised? His
story was described as such: I was hired to do the voice-over for a French
version of the annual video report of a high-profile religious organization. The
video opposes gay marriage, a view untenable to me. During the recording
session, I noticed various language errors. Nobody there but me spoke
French, and I considered letting these errors go, my guilt-free sabotage.
Ultimately I made the corrections. As a married gay man, I felt ethically
compromised even taking this job. Did I betray my tribe by correcting the
copy? (Cohen, 2010) My opinion is a second question should be put: to
which extent can or should one feel compromised? Probably, the answers will
depend on ones life circumstances, principles etc. Furthermore, will this
compromise affect the quality of ones life? First, I should visualize the
consequences of their interpreting. Second, values and ethics are important,
but these can be flexible to a certain extent. What is true is that interpreters
can play an important role when it comes to the outcome of a situation. In
one case, the need of a professional European language interpreter stood up,
but had serious consequences because of the incompetence of the
interpreter. A Portuguese interpreter was hired in October 1914 for a meeting
that was supposed to take place in Angola between Dr. Schultze-Jena, a high
official of a German colony and a Portuguese official regarding the
transportation of goods to the German South-West Africa. The interpreters
name was Jensen. According to the story, Jensen misinterpreted the place of
the meeting which caused the death of several German officials. What
happened was that the German officials thought they were lured into a trap
so before arriving to the spot, they wanted to turn around when the
Portuguese officers appeared and tried to stop them from leaving. In that

moment the Germans took out their guns and started shooting, but
apparently the Portuguese were quicker and in the end Dr. Schultze-Jena and
one of the officers were killed. Jensen got out with only a few scratches, but
because of his lack of knowledge and competence he failed to do his duty.
The outcome was even worse because the governor of the German colony
ordered to erase six Portuguese camps that were near the colony border
(Wilss, 1999:18). As it is shown throughout the history, the perception of
interpreters was most of the times negative. They were often disliked or
disrespected, and sometimes even killed because they represented some
kind of risks for the clients especially in war times. Some of the risks were the
manipulation of the speech and the selling of confidential information to the
enemy. (Lacorte, 2015: 316) However, the lack of respect is something that
interpreters experience even today. A good proof is that in the past
interpreters had to travel by train only in third class even if they were going
to an official meeting. Such example of attitude regarding interpreters was
presented by the professional interpreter Ferdi Scheider. He tells the story of
how one day he was excluded from an official dinner because he was
considered a persona non grata. During that time he was working at the
Defence Ministry, and after the incident he decided to resign in order to be
transferred to the Federal Language Office. (Wilss, 1999:20)
Like other professionals, interpreters are important and they should be
treated accordingly. Most of the times, their role is fundamental and what
they render can be decisive and powerful for a case. Sometimes, interpreters
try to impose their opinion on their client in order to make them change their
statement. In a recent article, Alexander Stevens, a lawyer at a Munich law
firm, presents a case in which honour surpassed any other ethical principle.
The case raised a question: What do you do when interpreters working for the
police and courts lie and manipulate? (Frank, 2016) The case described by
Stevens involved a Syrian girl named Sali who was promised by her parents
to a man named Hassan. Sali married the man in order to respect her
parents decision. As it is described further on, Hassan mistreated her and
sexually abused her during their marriage. She eventually looked for shelter
and that is when she met Stevens. Sali told him everything, but somehow she
was afraid of what her husband might do to her family. The next day Stevens
tried to request a meeting with the police and an interpreter. When he got

back to the shelter, Sali was changed. She told him that she did not want to
meet him anymore. After a while, Stevens received a letter from her. In the
letter, Sali was apologising for the situation, but as Stevens continued
reading, Sali explained how the interpreter made her feel as a blasphemer for
the entire family by giving a declaration against her husband. According to
Salis letter, the interpreter told her that honouring her husband should be
her priority not disgracing him. Although at the end of the letter, she declared
that everything was true, Sali could not accept that her family will be
dishonoured because of her. Therefore, by the time Stevens received the
letter, Sali was already dead. The article wants to draw attention on the
power of interpreting and to which extent interpreters are responsible for the
consequences of their action.
The increase of mobility, nowadays, makes the need for professional
interpreters to rise in each domain, even if we speak about the legal or
medical domain or any similar one. What it is dangerous is that most of the
times professionals such as physicians fail to use professional interpreters for
different reasons. Such situations can lead to consequences such as the
death of patients. One documented example is the case of the Tran family.
This case involved a nine year old Vietnamese girl who died from an allergic
reaction she had from a drug administrated by her physician. Her parents
spoke only Vietnamese and no interpreter was used during the procedure.
The investigation showed that the physician relied on the patient and on her
16 year old brother for the interpretation during the meetings. Apparently the
physician administrated the Reglan drug which is usually used to prevent
nausea and vomiting cause by cancer chemotherapy or gastroesophageal
reflux. He failed to warn the parents about the side effects. What was even
worse is that the Reglan was not recommended for pediatric use, but the
physician not only did not explain the effects of the drug, but it seems that he
misdiagnosed the childs condition as gastroenteritis instead of an infection
that eventually led to death. During the lawsuit, the records were checked by
an expert who declared (Quan, 2010:4):
Conducting the communications without a professional medical interpreter
failed to meet the standards of care applicable for the physician and the
facility. The effect is [that] she did not receive the care she should have. .

Even if the parents would have declined the service, the hospital should not
have allowed a family member, in this situation a minor, to serve as an
interpreter.
Therefore, the reasons for using untrained interpreters is known everywhere
because of such devastating effects. In a survey done between 2006-2008 by
University of California at Berkeley emphasizes the fact that language
difficulties and lack of funding for interpretation services are the main factors
of malpractice in the medical field. As the survey shows further on, 32 out of
the 35 cases investigated did not use competent interpreters. In 12 cases
relatives were used as interpreters and two of them included minor children.
The second case shown by the researchers revealed that the patient was a 17
year old girl from Taiwan named Lin. Apparently she was hit by a tennis
racquet which led to a fever for three days and a painful headache. As it is
described later on, the physician used her as an interpreter. She had to
interpret what the doctor was saying to her parents which she did until she
went into a respiratory arrest. After she was transferred to intensive care and
into surgery, the doctors confirmed she had a brain abscess. The following
day she died. Afterwards Lins parents declared that by not having a
professional interpreter to help with the communication, their daughter was
diagnosed to late which led to a delay for her brain abscess surgery. In all of
the cases reviewed by specialists it was confirmed that no competent
interpreter was used at any point during the medical encounter. (Quan,
2010:6)
Another case where the patient needed the service of an interpreter is the
Sokolov case. The patient was a 78 year old Russian woman who was trying
to recover from a stroke. One day an intern doctor was supposed to check her
general medical issues after being transfer to the hospital. The doctor
understood that the patient did not speak English which meant that she was
not able to explain the severity of her pain, but still he used a nurse as his
interpreter in order to evaluate her health status. After a while, during a
consultation, the doctor recalls seeing the patient holding her leg, but at that
time

the

nurse-interpreter

was

not

present.

The

morning

after

the

consultation, the doctor discovered that her leg was cold below the knee
since the night before. As a consequence the leg was amputated. (Quan,

2010:6)
From all of these examples, since there are many more which are not
recorded, people should understand that quality and accuracy should prevail
against money or lack of education. It is vital in such cases to get the help of
professional interpreters because it can make the difference between life and
death.
The last example includes difficult clients and how accuracy of the
interpretation can be questioned by them. In a press conference about
human rights held on the 19 th of January 2011, President Barack Obama was
present together with President Hu Jintao, where the service of an EnglishChinese interpreter was needed. During the conference, the Chinese
president tried to avoid as much as possible the questions about the nonexistence of human rights in China, including massive abortions, sterilizations
and the one-child policy. His reply to why he was not answering the questions
was that the interpretation was poorly done. The president explained
"Because of the technical translation and interpretation problem, I did not
hear the question about the human rights" Jon Ward, a reporter who was
present at the press conference, also commented by saying: This was
confusing because during opening statements, each leaders comments were
translated simultaneously and could be heard using headsets distributed to
both leaders, their staffs and the press,(Milbank, 2011) His colleague Jonah
Goldberg of National Review emphasized the fact that it was strange how the
equipment broke exactly in the same moment when he was asked those
questions. In this situation, the interpreter did his job, but because the
Chinese president failed to answer, the interpreters professionalism was
questioned. There will be many situations where interpreters will be
scapegoats for their clients or for an embarrassing situation.

Confidentiality
Being recognized as political players, the impact of interpreters started

to be studied in detail. In order to prevent the leak of secret information

which might harm the company or the one who hires the service of an
interpreter; a confidentiality contract should be signed before the job. As the
AIIC Code of ethics presents in the second article, interpreters are not allowed

to use the information acquired during their job for personal gain. The
principle is very simple to follow and is used by most of the companies
worldwide. But which type of information are you really allowed to share?
Sometimes interpreters go through tough situations where their own values
might come to the surface.
In June 13, 2008 Professor Erik Camayd-Freixas wrote an essay regarding his
experience as an interpreter during a court trial in May 2008 for nearly 400
immigration workers arrested in Iowa. The title of the essay is Interpreting
after the Largest ICE Raid in US History and inside he highlights the existent
constitutional rights and points out the dignity of the federal court. What
happened is that on May 12th, nearly 400 immigrant workers from Postville,
Iowa were arrested in the largest immigration raid in US history. Most of them
were sent to prison with charges such as identity thefts. The professor was
one of the twenty-six interpreters working on that trial. The process lasted
two weeks and how the interpreter describes it, it was a heavy trial. Most of
the people were from Guatemala who tried to make a living in Iowa because
back home they were poor. They could not understand why they were
imprisoned because they were only there to work. There were two things that
the interpreter points out about the trial. The first one is that the different
officers of the court did not witness the entire process from beginning to end.
The interpreters did. Basically there was a magistrate that was present
during the hearings, but a judge who was sentencing the immigrants. This
meant that none of the officers was present at the entire process. The second
thing described by the professor is that most of the immigrants were begging
to be deported, but instead they were imprisoned and prosecuted.
Furthermore, the professor says that the case was unique because the
immigrants were not even allowed to bail and almost forced to plead guilty if
they ever wanted to get out of jail. Erik Camayd-Freixas recalls one
declaration given by a man from Guatemala. The declaration was given by
the man to his attorney. When the attorney asked him how he got to USA
from Guatemala, his reply was I walked. At first the interpreter thought he
did not understand well, but the man explained after I walked for a month
and ten days, until I crossed the river. This meant that the man walked for
such a long time to cross the border in order to sustain his family. (CamaydFreixas, 2008:5) This man was not guilty, but the law was offering him three

options, none of them being an actual choice. The options were to plead
guilty, serve 5 month in jail and being deported; plead not guilty, wait more
than 6 months in jail and win the trial but still be deported; plead not guilty,
wait more than 6 months in jail, lose the trial which meant more than 2 years
in jail, before being deported.
In the essay, Erik Camayd-Freixas writes that never, in all of his years working
as an interpreter thought about quitting a contract. This was the first time
when he wanted to quit based on a conflict of interest. When the immigrant
man pleaded guilty, he said: God knows you are just doing your job to
support your families, and that job is to keep me from supporting mine
(Camayd-Freixas, 2008:6) a statement which made the interpreter question
his position and his personal values. After the essay was made public in June,
many papers such as the Times said that the interpreter broke the
confidentiality principle by explaining with details and declarations from the
prisoners how the trials were done. In his defence, Erik Camayd-Freixas
sustains that the paper was made public after he research what were the
legal implications for publishing such paper. The second thing he did before
publishing the paper was to get the permission from the district court judged
and his fellow interpreters. The professor says that only when he got all the
pieces together, he made the paper public for everyone and it was only used
in order to emphasize the constitutional rights, but most of all the human
rights. Of course such situations are rare, but the fact that he maintained his
impartiality and he also obtained the legal permission to publish the essay
means that the events described by him did not affect in any way the trials.
Therefore the confidentiality principle was not broken.

On occasions, this principle can be seen in a radical way, and interpreters

have to choose if they want to respect it or not. By choosing the latter option,
most of the times they quit their job or they go to jail. In 2004, the
Indonesian- Mandarin interpreter Fred Burks who worked for presidents such
as Bill Clinton and George W. Bush resigned from his position due to extreme
secrecy policy imposed by the government. The policy stipulated that
everything he hears during official meeting was meant to be kept hidden. He
was not allowed to speak about the event, not even with relatives. If he ever
wanted to talk about such meetings, even the funny ones, he had to have a
formal permission letter. Burks declared that before this policy he was free to
talk about everything, since he did not sign a secrecy contract. When the
department wanted him, eventually, to sign a contract in which it was written
that he was not allowed to talk with anyone about any information heard
during official meetings, he refused. In a declaration given to the Washington
Post, Burks declares "In theory, it meant I couldn't even tell my family where I
was traveling if that information had not already been made public."(Dobbs,
2004) After his resignation he started, throughout the years, to make public
some

of

his

interpretation

jobs.

Some

of

the

can

be

read

here

http://www.wanttoknow.info/050418fredburksinterpretingstories.

Working conditions and war zone

The working conditions in the field of interpreting are usually stipulated in the
contract, but the situation changes when we talk about official meetings.
Usually interpreters work in pairs in order to guarantee a good interpretation.
Nowadays these rules are given by the AIIC in order to define guide a good
professional practice. However in the past, there were situations when
interpreters had to work alone or they were not provided with good
conditions such as the lack of good equipment, difficult clients or fatigue. To
give an example were fatigue can interfere with the job we have a little story
written by Jean Herbert from the period when he was working as an
interpreter. As I mentioned in the beginning, Jean Herbert was one of the
pioneers in the field of interpreting. In 1917, during financial negotiations in
London, he started to work as an interpreter. At that time Herbert was an
officer in the British, French and American armies in the World War I. Herbert

remembers the period when he worked as a sole interpreter for one month in
French, English and German. He was working from Monday until Saturday, all
day long. At one point, during a conference he felt asleep for a few seconds
because of fatigue, but apparently he continued to interpret so nobody
noticed the incident. (Wilss, 1999:37)
Another example which shows that interpreters have to be prepared for any
kind of situation is the one given by Fred Burks who, as I mentioned before,
was a president interpreter. In September 18-21 of 2001, only one week after
the 9/1, the Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri met with US
President Bush. Burks was the official interpreter for Bush, while Megawati
had another official interpreter. What happened is that according to Burks
story Megawatis interpreter asked him if he could do both of the
interpretation because the Indonesian president was not very fond of him.
Burks replied that it was against rules to do such a thing, especially minutes
before a meeting, but the interpreter kept pressuring Burks until he finally
agreed. As a consequence, Burks worked during the three-day visit for both
presidents, one each at a time using English and Indonesian. At the end of
the visit, President Bush expressed his gratitude towards Burks by saying
Good job followed by a hand shake.
In this situation, Fred Burks acted as a good team player and saved the day
even if the reason was not out of the ordinary when it comes to the other
interpreter. One should keep in mind that the level of stress is really high and
having a team mate can help to alleviate the stress not to get rid of it.
(

povestea

este

luata

de

aici

http://www.wanttoknow.info/050418fredburksinterpretingstories. Si nu stiu
cum sa o citez)
After the 9/11 on 2001, the war in Afghanistan started which meant that this
area was invaded by the United States. Consequently, the impact of the war
affected also interpreters, especially those that were working in the war zone.
Most of the times, soldiers needed interpreters by their side in order to
communicate with the locals. As a result, interpreters were exposed to
violence and even death. Throughout the years, this situation was
documented using film footages, political reports, newspaper articles and
testimonies from war interpreters. Given the fact that there is an increase on

accountability among interpreters, this also increased the pressure put on the
profession itself. Now the conduct of interpreters in war zone, for example, is
starting to be examined closely by the media. Accountability for interpreters
can be seen as if every action they do, they need to justify it in case someone
asks them. Occasionally, this may be a challenge due to the fact that there
are interpretation tasks where the mouth has to be quicker than the mind
which can lead to small or big errors. The problem appears when the military
hires local interpreters to help them in their mission instead of trained
professional from their country. As Mona Baker and Luis Prez-Gonzlez
(2011:46) describe in their handbook, hiring local people as interpreters can
be a good thing when fighting with rebels, but one cannot know if maybe
they are rebels also. Furthermore, they describe that the tasks of these
interpreters often exceed their responsibilities and obligations stipulated in
their contract. Most of those that worked in war zones, in the past, were
selected because they were bilingual. Even if they were not able to speak a
language, they had to learn it in order to complete the communication
process. Such statement is based on a story described by the American
officer- interpreter Vernon Walters in his book, Silent Mission, where he wrote:
[April 1943] () We were taking three groups of Portuguese officers on an extensive
visit in order to impress them with the growing power and determination of the
United States and to convince them we would certainly win the war. () Colonel
Leonard told me he wanted me there the following morning at nine oclock ready to
take this group around. I said to him that I thought there must be some
misunderstanding since I did not speak Portuguese. He replied, No, but you speak
Spanish, French, Italian and all of that stuff, and youll certainly understand what they
are saying. I protested and said, Colonel, I love to hear Carmen Mirandas songs,
but I cannot understand what the words mean. I dont understand Portuguese. He
then said, Lieutenant, there is a misunderstanding. You seem to be under the
impression that I am inviting you to be here tomorrow morning at nine oclock. I am
not. Its an order. See that you are here, and see that you are speaking Portuguese.
() (Walters 1978: 61)

As described in the paragraph, Walters was not just supposed to be present,

but he also had to understand what the Portuguese group was saying, all
without any previous training. In war times, bilingual people usually end up

doing this job by chance so they have no choice but to respect their superior
and to follow the rules. They are an asset for the army, but a liability for the
rebels. Most of those that work in war zones such as Afghanistan end up
killed because of their betrayal. Even though the army promises asylum for
their hard work in the battle field, in the end they are left behind. Such cases
have been reported each year, and even a documentary was presented by
the Vice News Channel. The name of the documentary is The Afghan
Interpreters and it was done by Ben Anderson, an award-winning journalist
from UK in 2014. To make the documentary possible, Anderson interviewed
thousands of interpreters in Afghanistan. Most of them were former
interpreters for the USA army. The majority interviewed had their face
covered because they were afraid of the rebels, since their families were
already threaten or killed. The afghan interpreters told Anderson that they
accepted the job not because of money, but because they believed the
Americans will help them free their country from the Taliban. These
interpreters worked for more than 5 or 10 years for the American army, and
most of them took the job only after the army promised them a USA visa after
finishing a 12 month contract. After so many years of war, the interpreters
said that they regret the choice they made, as to volunteer to become
interpreters because the situation went from bad to worse. The American
troops went back home, but the interpreters stayed. Around 20% receive visa
each year since 2013, an only in special conditions. Often interpreters lie
about their job in order to protect their families, but somehow the Taliban
knows who is working for the enemy, so they hunt them down and kill them
for the purpose of propaganda. In addition, in the video Anderson tells that in
a recent interview with the Talibans official spokesman, Zaibullah Mujahid, he
was told that the interpreters will be targeted and executed like the foreign
soldiers and other foreigner occupiers. They will be put to death.

What

follows in the video, was described entirely by the interpreters. What is

outrageous is that even the military officials declared that without the
interpreters they would have been blind, like walking on a mine field. They
were extremely important and they had to be rescued because they risk their
life for the American army. One of the interpreters from the video declared: If
I knew that after this job Id stay in Afghanistan, I would have never taken the
job. During the three years working, I only made about $14,000 or $15,000.
Im not crazy. I wouldnt put myself in danger for $14,000. The only privilege

was to get the visa and go to the States, to get out of this misery. And this is
one of the 6000 applicants for an USA visa who still waits for a reply from the
American embassy. What is sad for these interpreters is that they cannot
work to sustain their family, because they might be tracked and killed. Even
so, many risk their lives because their children must survive. The major part
of the afghan interpreters told Anderson that if they did not get a visa, they
had 100% chances of being killed.
Although the situation is critical, apparently the governments such as the
American or British one always reply by saying that they might be rebels and
by accepting them they can transform in terrorists even if they risked their
lives before in mission all around Afghanistan. In 2013, the Daily Mail
conducted an investigation regarding afghan interpreters. They spoke with 31
former interpreters about the threats they receive via telephone or letters,
and 93% of them declared that their life was in danger because of their work.
They stated that:

Relatives have been killed in mistake for the interpreters

Others have been tortured in a bid to try and find interpreters

Some have had to change their identities

Their children have had to be taken out of school because of the threat
of Taliban kidnapping

Families have to move home regularly one 12 times

Many have been regularly threatened by voice and text messages

despite repeatedly changing and destroying SIM cards. (Williams,
2013)

There are organizations that work with volunteers such as lawyers in order to
find a solution for these interpreters, but the process is really heavy because
of bureaucracy. In America, for example, they are trying to form programs
where all contracts signed by the Afghans interpreters will allowed them
immediate access to a Visa. Since this war started, many interpreters were
killed by the Taliban. In the past few years, many articles were published
about the outstanding work of the interpreters in the battle field, but also

many were published about the denial received from governments to a

normal life. It is true that not all of them respect a Code of Ethics. There are
some that even influence their clients as weve seen in the case of Sali. Even
so, these are isolated cases which can be avoid by explaining the ethical
principles and their importance to those that want to pursue a career in
interpreting.
To conclude this chapter, one should understand that the code of professional
ethics in interpreting was given as a safeguard in order to keep a balance
between the interpreter and its client. We must remember that we change
every day, and our language the same. The practice of the languages we
learn is extremely important because it can keep everyone far away from
mistakes that can cost lives. What it should be learnt from the afghan
interpreters is that pride should be something one should express every day.
All of the interpreters should be proud of their job, and their attitude should
be always a positive one, even if they had a bad day. Interpreters should also
think that there are fellow colleagues who risk their life every day without
complaining and they still feel proud of their job. Skilled interpreters will
always be needed, no matter how the time changes. Still is everyones job to
craft their work in order to be original, but also accurate.