2006年VOA标准英语-Amnesty International Puts Spotlight on Rights

By Bill Rodgers
Washington, DC
13 December 2006
 
watch Amnesty Int'l Magazine report

The latest issue of Amnesty International Magazine highlights the human rights situation in three countries: Iran, Sri Lanka, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Members of Amnesty International's U.S. chapter spoke¹ at a Washington news conference (Tuesday) about the magazine's articles and the general situation in those countries, as VOA's Bill Rodgers reports.

 
Amnesty International Magazine
The cover story of Amnesty International Magazine features the situation in Sri Lanka, where the ongoing² war between the government and ethnic³ Tamil rebels shows no sign of ending soon.  The continuing violence is claiming the lives of civilians⁵, while also displacing thousands of non-combatants. 

Both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, or L-T-T-E, and government forces are to blame, according Amnesty International's Mona Dave "The civilian⁴ population does not seem to be safeguarded properly by either the government or by the L-T-T-E and that is of most concern to us.  The U.N. today has actually called on both sides to cease their hostilities⁶ in areas that are highly populated by civilians.  We are quite concerned that over 30,000 people have been either trapped or displaced in the east of the country."

The latest effort at peace talks collapsed⁷ earlier this year when representatives of the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government failed to agree on terms to revive a 2002 Norwegian-brokered ceasefire. 

 
Mona Dave
As an interim⁸ measure, Mona Dave says a human rights commission needs to be set up in Sri Lanka.  "I think in the short-term there needs to be access for humanitarian⁹ groups to these populations but also having a larger body which can look at the human rights violations¹⁰ as they are occurring, meeting with witnesses, investigating and being able to report out could really help in decreasing the number of violations that occur." 

An interview with Iran's Nobel peace laureate, Shirin Ebadi, is another feature in the magazine.  Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2003, talks about the deteriorating¹¹ rights situation in Iran and efforts by the government to shut down her organization, the Center for the Defense¹² of Human Rights.

Amnesty International is also concerned about the conference in Tehran to deny the existence of the Holocaust¹³. 

 
Zahir Janmohamed
Amnesty's Zahir Janmohamed fears the conference's aim to deny the World War Two genocide against the Jews could lead to greater persecution¹⁴ of religious minorities in Iran. "Iran has a very historic Jewish community and no doubt a conference so prominent as this in Iran about the Holocaust is certainly going to increase that intimidation¹⁵ and fear among the Jewish communities. So I'm certainly concerned about what that's going to do for the status of various religious minorities in Iran."

Sporadic¹⁶ fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the subject of a third feature in the magazine.  Congo's first democratic election in 40 years offers some hope, says Amnesty's Lynne Frederiksson -- if President Joseph Kabila acts. "I think what we're waiting to see is and what we're promoting is diplomatic pressure on the new government to carry out on its promises to provide for the needs and the human rights of its people."

Amnesty hopes the publicity¹⁷ surrounding its magazine articles will help improve the human rights situation in the countries featured.

1 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。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 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。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• 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。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• 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。

6 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 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。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 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。

11 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

12 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。

13 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

14 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• 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。

15 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

16 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

17 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。