VOA慢速英语2014 联合国人权首席谴责对暴行无所作为

 

AS IT IS 2014-06-16 UN Human Rights Chief Criticizes Inaction on Atrocities 联合国人权首席谴责对暴行无所作为

The U.N. High Commissioner¹ for Human Rights recently criticized the international community for failing to stop widespread abuses. Navi Pillay said governments too often place more importance on politics than human rights. She spoke² last week to the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council. It was her final speech to the Council as high commissioner for human rights. 

In September, Ms. Pillay will have served six years in the position. During that time, she has repeatedly spoken up in defense³ of human rights causes. She often angered countries by putting pressure on governments she believed were guilty of abuses.

In her final speech to the Council, she deplored⁴ the condition of human rights around the world.

“Regrettably, the international community remains⁵ unable to consistently react strongly and quickly to crises, including situations of grave human rights violations⁶ with high potential for regional overspill.” 

Navi Pillay went to South Sudan in April, a week after widespread violence and killings⁸ there. She said she was shocked by the targeted ethnic⁹ attacks and risk of widespread food shortages there. She said she was also angered by what she believed was the lack of interest by the leaders of both sides of the conflict. She has also been critical of the widespread violence in the Central African Republic. 

In her speech, Ms. Pillay described the violence in Syria as a tragedy for the Syrian people and a tragic¹⁰ failure for the cause of human rights. She said the bombings, widespread loss of life and heavy damage to public services in some areas of the country should anger everyone. And she deplored what she described as the refusal by Syria’s government and some opposition¹¹ groups to seek a peaceful end to the war.

“External powers continue to fuel this violence through the supply of arms, military and other material assistance, as well as inflows of foreign fighters. It is shocking that war crimes and crimes against humanity have become commonplace and occur with complete impunity¹². I am disappointed that the Security Council -- with 13 votes in favor and 2 opposed -- has been unable to reach agreement on action to ensure accountability for such crimes.” 

Russia and China have vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions on the Syrian conflict. The resolutions would have sent the cases of Syrian officials suspected of war crimes to the International Criminal Court.

In her speech, Navi Pillay said violations of human rights involve more than just large-scale abuses. She said human rights begins and ends with the individual. She spoke about the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants¹³ in Nigeria. And she talked about the killing⁷ in Pakistan of a 23-year-old pregnant woman by her family.

The next U.N. high commissioner for human rights will have to deal with the situation in Ukraine, among other issues. Ms. Pillay leaves as the U.N. prepares to open an office in South Korea to record widespread abuses in North Korea. Her office is also investigating human rights abuses said to have taken place in the final days of Sri Lanka’s civil war with the Tamil Tigers. The Sri Lankan government has said it will not cooperate with the investigation¹⁴.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 deplored   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They deplored the price of motor car, textiles, wheat, and oil. 他们悲叹汽车、纺织品、小麦和石油的价格。 来自辞典例句
• Hawthorne feels that all excess is to be deplored. 霍桑觉得一切过分的举动都是可悲的。 来自辞典例句

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• 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。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• 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。

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• 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。

10 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

13 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。