VOA常速英语2007年-Rice Honors Zimbabwe Lawyers Group on Human Rig

By David Gollust
State Department
10 December 2007

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice marked International Human Rights Day Monday by honoring a Zimbabwe lawyers group that has defended democracy activists¹ in that country. Rice also met with leaders of human rights groups who faulted the Bush administration's own record on the issue. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Secretary Rice has given the State Department's first annual Freedom Defenders² Award to the non-governmental group Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which has provided legal assistance to besieged³ democracy activists there.

At a State Department ceremony, Rice presented the award to the organization's president, Arnold Tsunga, for what she said was its tireless and fearless work to advance democratic principles, despite ongoing⁴ repression⁵ by the government of President Robert Mugabe.

"In Zimbabwe, civil society remains⁶ under siege amid political and economic crises caused by the irresponsible policies of the regime," said Condoleezza Rice. "Over the past several months, the authorities have engaged in an intensified⁷ campaign of repression, characterized by harassment⁸ and intimidation⁹, arrests and violent assaults against peaceful opposition¹⁰ activists, professionals, independent labor¹¹ leaders, and other members of civil society."

State Department officials say the Zimbabwe lawyers group, founded 10 years ago, has been a target of vilification¹² from the Mugabe government and that Tsunga himself has endured numerous arrests, police raids on his home and threats for his activities.

The Freedom Defenders Award was one of two created last year by the Secretary of State to promote the annual Human Rights Day observance.

Rice gave the parallel Diplomacy¹³ for Freedom Award to U.S. ambassador to Belarus Karen Stewart, for what were termed her innovative¹⁴ efforts to support defenders of freedom in that authoritarian¹⁵ central European state.

Rice also met privately¹⁶ Monday with leaders of several U.S.-based human rights groups, among them Amnesty International USA executive director Larry Cox.

In a written statement, Cox said the seriousness of the United States' commitment to human rights is called into question by its own practices in the war against terrorism, including the continued detention¹⁷ of some 300 terror suspects without charge or trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Cox said the group also pressed Rice to do more to help restore full democracy in Pakistan and to end violence against civilians¹⁸ in Sudan's Darfur region.

In luncheon¹⁹ comments to a women's foreign policy group Monday, Rice said the Bush administration would "like nothing better" than to close the Guantanamo facility, but must have assurances that what she termed the "very dangerous" detainees there would not return to anti-U.S. violence if handed back to their countries of origin.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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》

3 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

4 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。

5 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 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。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 vilification   

n.污蔑，中伤，诽谤

参考例句：

• They pelted him with ridicule and vilification. 他们用嘲笑和丑化对他进行猛烈的攻击。 来自互联网
• Bishop's letter was the signal for a campaign of vilification and intimidation unequaled in American history. 主教的信是发动一场在美国历史上没有前例的诬蔑和恐吓运动的信号。 来自互联网

13 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

14 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

15 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

16 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

17 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

18 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。

19 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。