Outrage at Jammeh's death threat

An online petition(请愿书) has been launched in protest at the Gambian president's threat to kill human rights workers.

President Yahya Jammeh told state TV earlier this week he would kill anybody who wanted to "destabilise" The Gambia.

"If you are affiliated（附属） with any human rights group, be rest assure that your security is not guaranteed... we are ready to kill saboteurs," he said.

The campaign by a coalition¹ of pressure groups wants the African Union's human rights commission HQ moved from Gambia.

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu from the the Open Society Institute, one of the bodies behind the petition, said Mr Jammeh's comments were "beyond the pale".

If you think that you can collaborate² with so-called human rights defenders³, and get away with it, you must be living in a dream world

President Yahya Jammeh

Gambia's pitiful political class
"The people of Gambia have been under siege for the past year or two. We've got an obligation to speak up," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

The headquarters of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is in the Gambian capital, Banjul.

The Open Society, along with the African Court Coalition（联盟）, is now campaigning to have the offices moved to a different country.

Their aim is to secure as many signatures as possible from non-governmental organisations involved in the work of the AU's human rights commission before 28 September, when the petition will be forwarded to the African Union.

Their petition quotes Mr Jammeh's speech, which was made before he went to the UN General Assembly in New York.

"I will kill anyone who wants to destabilise this country," he said.

"If you think that you can collaborate（合作） with so-called human rights defenders, and get away with it, you must be living in a dream world. I will kill you, and nothing will come out of it."

The petition says Mr Jammeh's declaration "leads us to fear for the safety, security, and lives of ourselves and our colleagues".

Mr Jammeh came to power in a coup⁴ in 1994 and has won three multi-party elections since then.

But amid claims of plots to oust⁵ him, journalists have been harassed⁶ and dozens of people have been arrested and unlawfully detained, human rights groups say. （本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

3 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• 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》

4 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

5 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

6 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们