2006年VOA标准英语-Rights Group Says Southern Thais Attacked

By Scott Bobb
Bangkok
04 January 2006

Thai soldier takes up position on armor car as he guards temple in Pattani province   
  
A human rights group says people in Thailand's south are caught between violent attacks by suspected Muslim separatists and an overly harsh response by Thai security forces. Amnesty International issued the report, two years after an attack on a military base reignited decades-old tensions in the region.

----------------------------------------

The human rights group Amnesty International says the Thai government has used arbitrary detention¹, torture, and excessive force in seeking to quell² two years of violence in which more than 1,000 people have been killed.

The cycle of violence began when unidentified gunmen attacked a military base in Narathiwat province two years ago, killing³ four soldiers and seizing hundreds of weapons.

The Director of Amnesty International in Thailand, Boonthan Verawongse, notes that since then there have been hundreds of attacks, most of which have gone unpunished. He says the atmosphere of impunity⁴ has been aggravated⁵ by an emergency law that prevents security officials from being prosecuted⁶ for human rights violations⁷.

"One of the big problems is regarding the question of impunity that has been stated as the main part of the amnesty decree, which the government inaugurated in July of last year. And this is one of the very big issues in the human rights violations," said Mr. Boonthan.

The Thai government blames the violence on separatists, criminals, and corrupt⁸ officials. Drive-by shootings and bombings by these groups have caused scores of deaths, many of them among security forces. But Amnesty International said the government's response has been excessively violent and called for an investigation⁹ into allegations of torture and disappearances¹⁰. It also called for all detainees to be given access to lawyers, medical care and their families.

The Thai government denies it has used excessive force and says it adheres to the rule of law in trying to solve the problem. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at a news conference late last year said his government would address the lack of jobs and social services that it believes are the underlying¹¹ causes of the violence.

"We will spend most of our efforts to bring the understanding and the development and the better education and employment for the majority of the people," he said.

But the Thai prime minister has also vowed¹² to bring lawbreakers to justice.

Amnesty International's Mr. Boonthan says local residents are suspicious of the central government. "If you want peace, work for justice. If the government [officials] are sincere enough to work for peace then they have to work for justice in order to resolve the conflict," he commented.

The region was an independent sultanate until 100 years ago, when it was annexed¹³ by Bangkok. A separatist movement emerged in the 1970s and '80s, but declined under an amnesty in the 1990s. The resurgence¹⁴ of violence has hurt tourism and investment and caused many residents to leave.

1 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

2 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

3 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。

4 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。

5 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

6 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

7 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。

8 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

9 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。

10 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

11 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

14 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。