时间:2019-02-03 作者:英语课 分类:2006年VOA标准英语(十二月)


英语课

By Catherine Maddux
Washingtion
12 December 2006


In the latest edition of its magazine, the human rights group Amnesty International focuses attention on the status of human rights in three countries: Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sri Lanka. VOA's Catherine Maddux reports.


 
Thousands of refugees fled the fighting between government soldiers and the Tamil Tiger rebels even as the town of Muttur came under shell fire, 4 Aug 2006
Amnesty International devotes the cover of the winter edition of its magazine to the decades-long conflict in Sri Lanka and its impact on civilians 2. Other articles in international rights groups' magazine tell the story of rights abuses in Iran and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


Amnesty says this year alone, more than 2,000 people -- mostly civilians -- have been killed in fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and ethnic 3 Tamil Tiger rebels. Another 200,000 have been displaced.


Mona Dave from Amnesty's Government Relations office says the conflict in Sri Lanka has been marked by years of human rights violations 4 committed by the government, Tamil Tiger rebels - known as the LTTE - and other armed groups.


She says civilians often take the brunt of the abuses.


"Neither the government forces nor the LTTE have taken adequate precautions to protect civilian 1 lives," she said.


"Political killings 5 and abductions have been on the rise and cases of disappearance 7 have increased. And child recruitment continues to be a large problem in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, Amnesty International is concerned about reports of food shortages and other provisions in the north and east of Sri Lanka," she added.


Dave said Amnesty is calling on the Sri Lankan government to establish a strong international monitoring operation with powers to investigate abuses as they occur.


 
On Iran, Zahir Janmohamed, also from Amnesty's government relation's office, says the rhetoric 8 between the United States and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regarding his country's nuclear program has overshadowed human rights issues within Iran.


Janmohamed says abuses against minorities, women, and reform-minded politicians have worsened since last year's elections.


He said, "In a report launched on February 20th, 2006, Amnesty International reported an intensification 9 of repression 10 within the first six months after President Ahmadinejad took office, including the frequent use of the death penalty and torture, persecution 11 of ethnic and religious minorities and limitation on freedom of speech."


 
Violence Has Marked Campaign Period in the DRC
Amnesty says in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, recent democratic elections - the first since independence 46 years ago - may have brought hope but severe human rights abuses continue, particularly against women.


Lynn Fredriksson is Amnesty's advocacy director for Africa.


She said, "Across the country, particularly in the eastern Congo, armed groups systematically 12 used sexual violence against women, abduct 6 and re-recruit child soldiers and attack and intimidate 13 reporters and human rights defenders 14 in urban and rural areas alike."


"In fact, without continuing support for the U.N. mission in the Congo, MONUC, armed violence against civilians would re-escalate," she continued.


She adds that Amnesty is waiting for Congo's newly elected president, Joseph Kabila, to show he will respect the human rights of his citizens.



adj.平民的,民用的,民众的
  • There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
  • He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
平民,百姓( civilian的名词复数 ); 老百姓
  • the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
  • At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后,至少有300名平民下落不明。
adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的
  • This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏,这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
  • The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。
违反( violation的名词复数 ); 冒犯; 违反(行为、事例); 强奸
  • This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
  • These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。
谋杀( killing的名词复数 ); 突然发大财,暴发
  • His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
  • The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
vt.诱拐,拐带,绑架
  • The police caught the man who tried to abduct the boy for ransom.警察抓住了那个企图拐走这男孩以便勒索赎金的家伙。
  • The news that we see those use network abduct children sometimes filled with apprehension.我们有时看到那些利用网络诱拐儿童的新闻都心惊肉跳。
n.消失,消散,失踪
  • He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
  • Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。
n.修辞学,浮夸之言语
  • Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗?
  • Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后,他和军队的关系岌岌可危。
n.激烈化,增强明暗度;加厚
  • The intensification of the immunological response represents the body's natural defense. 增强免疫反应代表身体的自然保卫。 来自辞典例句
  • Agriculture in the developing nations is not irreversibly committed, to a particular pattern of intensification. 发展中国家的农业并没有完全为某种集约化形式所束缚。 来自辞典例句
n.镇压,抑制,抑压
  • The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
  • This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。
n. 迫害,烦扰
  • He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
  • Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。
adv.有系统地
  • This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
  • The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。
vt.恐吓,威胁
  • You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事?
  • The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者
  • The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众,只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
aeronautical navigational electronics
air craft
Aisimi
alpha-beta transition
annunziato
armyworms
as crazy as a loon
bag dust filter
beam bearing
Benangin
bf, bf.
black-cab
blockwood pavement
boisterously
boss-fern
Bukhoro
capacity for public rights
carthon
chlorophyll corpuscle
cladophoran
colloverthwart
computer interconnects
conversation control
Creusot-Loire Uddelholm process
CRSV
current operating performance income statement
derivational compound
diagnostically
digital-advertising
Eaton Park
ejector lift
excursion rate
fail-soft function
fan-guide
ferrobustamite
first-out
glass object
grapeseed oil
hemqtarrhachis
hickenlooper
high-speed sequential processing
Higi
hop on the bandwagon
hydrokonite (hydroconite)
ilmens
inter-organizational
iron halogenide
Isobutylisovalerate
jamt
jen
Jenolan
job dyeing
keystone-type piston ring
kneeboarding
La Cavada
load time his tory
martinhal
measure twice, cut once
mechanical face seals
method analysis
microsoft commercial internet system
midmarket
murska
nanoprocessor
nonreduced
obtuse-angle
optimal growth path
Percy cautery
profit allowance
put it this way
raw casting
readable news
reversal colo(u)r film
rotary slasher
rural erosion rate
scaraboids
Scots Gaelic
seam fat
seepage apron
seiters
self-propelled floating crane
separetionist
soapworts
splicing
splicing vise
spring hoop
submerged tooth
suburban areas
syllogisms
temporomaxillary
topographical parallel
townlets
Tracheophytas
trailing cavity
travelling roller pin
unextraneous
unit mass resolution
unyielding foundation
utility-company
Varaire
wakeys-wakeys
yoruba dance (w. africa)