2007年VOA标准英语-Amnesty Protests Angola Forced Evictions

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
15 January 2007

Angolan refugee boy stands in front of his family's shelter  (File photo)

The human rights group Amnesty International is protesting the forced eviction¹ of thousands of people in Angola from their homes, some of them at the request of the Catholic Church. The group says it is concerned that many families have been living without shelter in the ruins of their demolished² houses. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa bureau in Johannesburg.

Amnesty International Monday issued a report on the forced eviction of some ten thousand families in the past six years in order to make way for large-scale housing projects.

The human rights organization's researcher for Angola, Maluka-Anne Miti, says the evictions are a violation³ of the African Charter to which Angola is a party.

"These forced evictions are a human rights violation and they were carried out without prior consultation⁴, without notification and without any legal recourse for the people who were forcibly evicted⁵," said Miti.

Miti says the evictions began six years ago. In some areas, the victims had no where to go, so they built shelters from the ruins of their homes, which were also demolished.

In many cases, people who had been living on the land since the Angolan civil war were evicted in order to make way for housing development projects.

In one case, the government returned to the Catholic Church land that had been seized during the socialist⁶ era. Amnesty International reports that Church leaders said they asked the government to provide other land to those were evicted.

Miti says the Angolan government has acknowledged the right of those evicted to compensation but to date it has not delivered.

She accuses the government of using excessive force in many of the evictions.

"Police and sometimes members of the armed forces of Angola took part in the forced evictions and they beat some people who were resisting, [and] they arrested human rights defenders⁷ who were trying to prevent the demolitions⁸ and forced evictions," she said.

Amnesty International is calling on the Angolan government to stop all forced evictions, to ensure that adequate housing is provided before any evictions occur and to compensate⁹ those forcibly moved.

1 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

2 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

3 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

4 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

5 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

6 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

7 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 demolitions   

n.毁坏，破坏，拆毁( demolition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Randy Couture as Toll Road, an Expendable and demolitions expert. 大卫·萨亚斯饰演加尔扎将军，邪恶的独裁者。 来自互联网
• Allied Demolitions upgrade moved one slot to the left on the Allied HQ UI. 盟军的爆破升级在指挥部界面中左移一格（由于现在没钳子升级了，所以填钳子的位置）。 来自互联网

9 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。