2007年VOA标准英语-Rights Group Says Sri Lanka Military Complicit

By Suzanne Presto¹
New Delhi 
24 January 2007

A leading human-rights group says Sri Lanka's government is ignoring a militant² group's use of child soldiers and forced conscripts in battles against Tamil rebels. VOA's Suzanne Presto in New Delhi reports.

New York-based Human Rights Watch says the Karuna militant group is forcing hundreds of Sri Lankan children and young adults to serve as soldiers.

Human Rights Watch South Asia researcher Meenakshi Ganguly says the government has condemned³ the use of child soldiers by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, but it turns a blind eye to the Karuna group doing the same thing.

"This is being done with government complicity, which is the problematic part," she said. "The Sri Lankan government has been very strong on the LTTE's forced recruitment of children, yet now the Karuna group is operating in Sri Lankan government-controlled areas and the government has not done enough to contain this problem."

Karuna militants⁴ were once part of the Tamil Tigers, battling the Sri Lankan government for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's ethnic⁵ minority Tamils for decades. But in 2004, the Karuna faction⁶ broke away and has since clashed repeatedly with the Tigers, becoming an ally of the government in its fight against the Tamil Tigers.

Indrani Sugathadasa, the secretary of Sri Lanka's Ministry⁷ of Child Development and Women's Empowerment, denies government complicity in the use of child soldiers.

"The allegations are not true and Sri Lanka, the present government, the policy is zero-tolerance," she said. "You know, we do not tolerate any child recruitment."

Human Rights Watch says it has conducted interviews with parents who say they have seen Karuna militants take their children, and they have also seen armed children at Karuna camps, which are near Sri Lankan military camps.

"This is very close to the combat areas, so there are military checkpoints all over this area, plus a police presence. And it is impossible for the Karuna group to have done this without government awareness⁸, and in fact, complicity," she said.

In November last year, U.N. special advisor⁹ on Sri Lanka, Allan Rock, said government forces were aware of, and at times involved in, child abductions by Karuna militants. The Sri Lankan government says it is investigating the reports.

Sri Lanka's National Security spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella, said the government takes these accusations¹⁰ very seriously.

"In fact, we want to get into a full scale investigation¹¹ into it," he said. "Already we are investigating some allegations that have been made against this whole issue."

Rambukwella said the inquiry¹² is ongoing¹³, and the government is waiting for additional evidence before it can say whether any elements of the security forces are aware of the Karuna's alleged¹⁴ use of child soldiers.

Human Rights Watch says it hopes the issue of child soldiers will be addressed when the United Nations discusses the secretary-general's report on the Sri Lanka conflict on February 9.

1 presto   

adv.急速地；n.急板乐段；adj.急板的

参考例句：

• With something so important,you can't just wave a wand and presto!在这么重大的问题上，你想挥动一下指挥棒，转眼就变过来,办不到！
• I just turned the piece of wire in the lock and hey presto,the door opened.我把金属丝伸到锁孔里一拧，嘿，那门就开了。

2 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

3 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 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。

6 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

13 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。

14 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为