2007年VOA标准英语-Human Rights Watch Accuses Ugandan Army Of Atro

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
11 September 2007

The U.S. rights group Human Rights Watch is accusing Uganda's army of widespread abuses in its restive¹ northern Karamoja region, including the killing² of civilians³. As Nick Wadhams reports from Nairobi, Uganda argues that some of the witness accounts were made up.

In a news conference in Uganda's capital, Kampala, Human Rights Watch said Ugandan soldiers had opened fire on children, beat civilians and arbitrarily arrested many people.

Human Rights Watch researcher Elizabeth Evenson tells VOA News that the worst atrocities⁴ have eased in Karamoja but there is no doubt that other armed groups also terrorize civilians. She said people in Karamoja were so afraid of the army that they fled whenever soldiers showed up in their villages.

"In one place where we drove up, all of the women from the village ran away, and when they came back they told us that they had run away because they thought we were the military, they thought we had come in vehicles," said Evenson. "And we did talk to a number of people who would say they had many enemies including other groups in Karamoja and the soldiers, so we did hear comments like that."

Karamoja has been a no-go zone for outsiders for many years. The impoverished⁵, arid⁶ region is known for frequent cattle raids by the Karamajong people, as well as drought and general lawlessness.

As part of efforts to bring control to the region, Uganda has launched a disarmament program. But critics such as Human Rights Watch argue that the Ugandan army has often been overzealous in its campaign, and the disarmament sometimes leaves people vulnerable to attack.

Uganda's minister for security, Amama Mbabazi, says the government has had no choice but to get tough in Karamoja because armed groups had acted with impunity⁷ for years. He denied that the government was guilty of abuses and questioned whether Human Rights Watch had the authority to make claims of atrocities.

"Human Rights Watch, they have no moral right to talk about us and really, to the best of my knowledge they are not qualified⁸ to talk about Uganda," said Mbabazi. "They sit in the U.S. and start preaching to us and I totally reject that. Our struggle in Uganda is a struggle against violation⁹ of human rights. That is why I really get angry by these armchair critics who do not know what they are talking about."

The U.N. High Commissioner¹⁰ for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, has reported a decline in allegations of rights abuses. Human Rights Watch says while those reports appear to be true, Uganda has refused to hold its soldiers accountable for past crimes.

1 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

7 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

9 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。

10 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。