2006年VOA标准英语-UN Rights Office Blames All Sides for Suff

By Patricia Nunan
Kathmandu
02 February 2006

A United Nations official says the people of Nepal are suffering at the hands of government troops, politicians and communist rebels alike. VOA's Patricia Nunan is in Kathmandu, where she spoke¹ to the head of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner² for Human Rights, the U.N.'s largest human rights operation in the world.

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Ian Martin, the head of the U.N. human rights office in Nepal, says local elections scheduled for next week will do little to halt the rights abuses inflicted³ on the Nepalese people.

Riot police officers detain pro-democracy activist⁴ chanting anti-king slogans during demonstration⁵ in Katmandu, Feb. 2, 2006   
  

The elections are supposed to be a step toward the restoration of democracy, after King Gynanendra fired the government and snatched power one year ago. The king said he acted because the politicians running the elected government had failed to halt a 10-year insurgency⁶ that had already killed thousands of Nepalis.

But Martin says next week's polls have simply set the stage for further human rights abuses - in this case by political parties opposed to the elections, and communist rebels who have threatened to disrupt them.

"The elections are providing the context, unfortunately, for increasing human rights violations⁷, both of those who are opposing the holding of elections by this government at this time, and also by those who are trying to intimidate⁸ candidates and others from participating in them," he said.

Martin says government troops are also to blame for the killing⁹ and abuse. He says both the rebels and the military accuse the common people or supporting the other side - and the people suffer at the hands of both.

"Ordinary people are vulnerable to the Maoists coming at one time, requiring them to feed them, tax them, extort¹⁰ money, perhaps accuse some of them of being collaborators with the government and the security forces," he said. "And then the security forces come and the people are equally vulnerable…to being accused of having supported the Maoists. So it's really been a terrible situation, I think, for ordinary villagers caught in the middle of that."

Martin's office, which opened last year, represents the largest U.N. human rights operation in the world. Its mandate¹¹ is limited to pressuring the government, the rebels and Nepal's political parties to respect human rights.

 
King Gyanendra (file photo) 
  
King Gyanendra's takeover last year had an effect that the king did not intend, and one which Martin says the U.N. might be able to use to the people's benefit.

The king's action brought about a partnership¹² between the rebels and the political parties. Both oppose the king, both are boycotting¹³ next week's local elections.

The Maoists have threatened to use violence to disrupt the polls, but in aligning¹⁴ themselves with the mainstream¹⁵ political parties, they have said that they would participate in national elections if democratic rights were restored. Martin says the new partnership could help him to put pressure on the Maoists.

"I think we are able to exert some real leverage¹⁶, particularly in this period, where the Maoists have been wanting to form an alliance with the political parties and the political parties have been saying to them that that alliance can only be on the basis of respect for human rights," said Martin.

Both the political parties and the rebels have called for a greater role for the U.N. in Nepal, possibly to mediate¹⁷ a peace settlement. But Martin says the U.N. would only do so at the invitation of the government.

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 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。

3 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

4 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。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

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 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

9 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。

10 extort   

v.勒索，敲诈，强要

参考例句：

• The blackmailer tried to extort a large sum of money from him.勒索者企图向他勒索一大笔钱。
• They absolutely must not harm the people or extort money from them.严格禁止坑害勒索群众。

11 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

12 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

13 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

14 aligning   

n. (直线)对准 动词align的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals. 有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。
• ToolTips provide textual hints that assist in drawing lines and aligning objects. 工具提示提供了协助画线和对象对齐的文本提示。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

15 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

16 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

17 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。