2006年VOA标准英语-African Union Summit Marred by Security Cr

By Noel King
Khartoum
23 January 2006

African Heads of State pose of a group photo outside the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, Sudan during the opening of Sixth African Union Summit, Monday, Jan. 23, 2006   
  
Security is tight in the Sudanese capital city of Khartoum, as the nation prepares for the African Union Summit, set to begin on Monday. On the eve of the summit, participants in a human rights meeting were detained and some beaten, by plainclothes Sudanese security forces. No reason was given for the detention¹ and detained activists³ say the meeting was approved by the Sudanese government.

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Sudanese security forces stormed a human rights meeting in Khartoum on Sunday evening, detaining at least thirty people and confiscating⁴ laptop computers and personal belongings⁵. Sudanese and European lawyers and rights activists were held for nearly four hours. Participants later reported that some were beaten.

A small crowd of onlookers⁶ kept vigil outside of the meeting hall. Journalists and colleagues of the detained participants were repeatedly pushed back by plainclothes Sudanese security. Upon their release, furious participants railed against security forces.

"After we finished the session they attacked us," said Ali Mohamed Ali, a Khartoum-based human rights lawyer and one of the meeting's organizers. "They rushed inside the room of the conference, without saying any justification⁷ for this and they confiscated⁸ the laptops, any electronic devices. After four hours, now they released us without saying any justification for this confinement⁹."

A man identifying himself as a Sudanese security official later told onlookers that the Sudan government was simply trying to prevent crowds from forming.

The government has repeatedly been accused of human rights abuses including torture and illegal detention by rights organizations worldwide.

A Darfuri activist² who would identify himself only as Taj, for fear of retribution by the Sudan government, said the detention was typical behavior by national security.

"What happened here is just one tenth, one hundredth of what is going on in Darfur. Nobody was killed. It was torture. It was a bad incident from security. But what this government is doing to us in Darfur, this is nothing," he said.

European citizens from Amnesty International, the International Bar Association and the European Commission were detained along with Sudanese.

Members of those groups say there was no reason for the detention

Theo Murphy, a researcher with Amnesty International, says restrictions¹⁰ on public meetings have been relaxed since the signing of a peace agreement that ended Sudan's civil war one year ago.

"Its absolutely not an illegal meeting," he noted¹¹. "With the interim¹² constitution that lifted the state of emergency there is no such thing as an illegal meeting anymore. And furthermore, we were invited here by the government. We were given permission to come and attend this meeting."

The Sudan government released no official statement on the detention, but Sudan Parliament Member Ghazi Suleiman, told VOA that security is tight because of the African Union summit.

The AU summit, which begins on Monday, has been marred¹³ by debate over who will assume the chairmanship. Traditionally the summit's host nation chairs the summit. But rights groups have complained that Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir should not assume the post due to his government's rights record in the war-torn Darfur region.

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 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 confiscating   

没收（confiscate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• There was Mame by my side confiscating my intellects and attention. 有玛米坐在我身边，害得我心不在焉。
• Intimidate book sellers by confiscating books deemed unfavourable to the Barisan government. 充公被视为对国阵不利的书籍，威胁书商。

5 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

6 onlookers   

n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash. 在撞车地点聚集了一大群围观者。
• The onlookers stood at a respectful distance. 旁观者站在一定的距离之外，以示尊敬。

7 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

8 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

9 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

13 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。