2007年VOA标准英语-Human Rights Groups Hold Vigil for Detained Ira

By Sean Maroney
Washington
28 June 2007

In New York Wednesday, Amnesty International and other human rights groups sponsored a vigil calling for the immediate¹ release of detained Iranian-Americans by Tehran. In May, the government of Iran arrested four Iranian-Americans on accusations² of harming national security. VOA's Sean Maroney reports from the vigil.

More than a hundred protesters rallied in the humid mid-day heat outside the United Nations, chanting for the release of prominent U.S. scholar Haleh Esfandiari from the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.

Shaul Bakhash, husband of detained US scholar Haleh Esfandiari, in a May 2007 file photo

Esfandiari's husband, Shaul Bakhash, was among the protesters.

"We know that interrogations at Evin Prison are not nice nor gentle. She needs medication. She needs medical attention. I think it's unconscionable that the authorities in Evin Prison keep her not only in prison but don't allow family visits or legal representation," he said.

Last month, the government of Iran arrested the 67-year-old Esfandiari, as well as three other Iranian-Americans, including scholar Kian Tajbakhsh, journalist Parnaz Azima and activist³ Ali Shakeri. Shakeri is now out of prison on bail⁴ but is not allowed to leave Iran.

Formal charges against the detainees have not been released, but the Iranian Intelligence Ministry⁵ reportedly charged Esfandiari, Tajbakhsh and Azima with "acting⁶ against state security by engaging in propaganda and espionage⁷ for foreigners."

Amnesty International's Zahir Janmohamed helped organize Wednesday's vigil. He says the detainees are pawns⁸ in a diplomatic game between the United States and Iran.

"Now I think when you couple that with sort of an overall paranoia⁹ in Iran, you have someone like Haleh Esfandiari - a very well-known, respected scholar - I think holding her is a way for them to sort of play a diplomatic game. There are Iranians held by the United States in Iraq, and I think this is seen as a tit-for-tat," he said.

Esfandiari, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was visiting her 93-year-old mother last December when Iranian officials took away her passport. U.S. officials have strongly denied that Esfandiari or the other detained Iranian-Americans were engaged in any espionage activity.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry claims that Esfandiari's and her fellow scholar Kian Tajbakhsh's professional activities, such as speaking at international conferences, are evidence of "acting against national security." It also accuses Parnaz Azima, a journalist with the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda, of spreading "propaganda against the Islamic Republic."

Esfandiari's daughter, Haleh Bakhash, says she hopes her mother will be released soon.

"I'm holding on to hope that my mother is thinking about her family everyday and about her friends and that that's giving her the strength to go on each day and that she knows in her heart that this is going to come to an end soon and that she will be sent home to be reunited with us," she said.

It is still unclear whether any of the accused will face trial.

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 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。

3 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。

4 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

5 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。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

8 pawns   

n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 paranoia   

n.妄想狂，偏执狂；多疑症

参考例句：

• Her passion for cleanliness borders on paranoia.她的洁癖近乎偏执。
• The push for reform is also motivated by political paranoia.竞选的改革运动也受到政治偏执狂症的推动。