2007年VOA标准英语-Guinea-Bissau Activists Worry Over Renewed Viol

By Kari Barber
Dakar
09 January 2007

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has called for the Guinea-Bissau government to take control of a recent burst of violence in a country historically rocked by coups². The murder of a former navy chief last week resulted in a series of riots. Kari Barber reports from our West Africa bureau.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon issued a statement urging the Guinea-Bissau government to exercise restraint dealing³ with the upheaval⁴ that has followed the killing⁵ of former navy chief Mohamed Lamine Sanha. Following his death, riots broke out in the capital Bissau, and police fired on the crowd, killing at least one person and injuring others.

Last year the government accused Sanha of planning a coup¹ and he was briefly⁶ detained.

Guinean policeman tries to prevent clashes (File photo)

Secretary-General Ban called for the people of Guinea-Bissau not to take the law into their own hands.

Activist⁷ and Bissau Chamber⁸ of Commerce President Macaria Barai says the country is calm now, but tensions are still high. She says that because the country suffers from poverty and weak infrastructure⁹, it will be difficult for the government to bring Sanha's killers¹⁰ to justice.

"The government needs to have the means to investigate it. They need to find out who. And at the same time finding out who, even if they arrest them, where are the prisons? We do not have prisons," she said. "So all we have are a lot of things we can not stop because we do not have the infrastructure."

Barai says she was not satisfied with Secretary-General Ban's expression of concern about Guinea-Bissau and his call for the government to take action. She says she would like the U.N. and other international bodies to get more involved locally to help quell¹¹ the simmering violence.

"What helps is action. And what we need is the support of the international community to create the means to control the violence because the government is not in the position to create this means because they are forced to deal with the problems of paying salaries," added Barai.

Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world. It has been wracked by instability since its independence from Portugal in 1974, most recently a military coup overthrew¹² the government in 2003.

1 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

2 coups   

n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事

参考例句：

• China has seen many political coups within the ruling class. 中国统治阶级内部发生过很多政变。 来自互联网
• Thailand has had eighteen coups or coup attendance since nineteen thirty-two. 泰国1932年以来有18次政变或参加政变。 来自互联网

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

5 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。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 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。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

11 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。

12 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。