VOA标准英语2009年-Third Senior Khmer Rouge Leader Charge

Luke Hunt | Kota Kinabalu 18 December 2009

 
Photo: AP
Khieu Samphan, looks on during hearing at U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh (file photo)

Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal has charged the Khmer Rouge¹'s former head of state with genocide, the third such charge this week against a former leader of the brutal² regime.

Khieu Samphan is the most senior Khmer Rouge leader to face genocide charges in addition to other charges related to war crimes and crimes against humanity following the deaths of 1.7 million people during the 1975 to 1979 bloody³ reign⁴ by the Khmer Rouge.

Similar charges of genocide were issued earlier this week against Nuon Chea, the group's top ideologist⁵, and former foreign minister Ieng Sary.

All three have been charged with involvement in the deaths of members of the country's ethnic⁶ Cham and Vietnamese communities.

The three are expected to face trial late next year once the prosecution⁷ and defense⁸ teams complete their investigations⁹.

Lars Olsen is a spokesman for the tribunal. He says genocide charges are complicated. "It is not enough to actually prove that atrocities¹⁰ have been committed," he said. "You also need to prove there was intent behind the atrocities to destroy, in whole or in part, a group."

He says the intent of destruction is based on a group's ethnicity, nationality, religion or race and the current genocide charges relate directly to the alleged¹¹ slaughter¹² of ethnic Vietnamese and Muslim chams by the Khmer Rouge.

Seventy-eight-year-old Khieu Samphan is a French-educated former guerrilla leader who was arrested in 2007 and has since portrayed¹³ himself as a virtual prisoner of Pol Pot's regime. A self-styled intellectual, he has denied any knowledge of the atrocities.

The additional charges came three weeks after the end of the first trial of a senior Khmer Rouge leader. Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, stands accused of overseeing the torture and extermination¹⁴ of at least 14,000 people at the infamous¹⁵ S-21death camp.

A verdict in that case is expected by late March or early April.
 

1 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

5 ideologist   

n.思想家

参考例句：

• This is the ascensive ideologist later people provided rich thought nourishment. 这为后来的进步思想家们提供了丰富的思想养料。 来自互联网
• Yan Fu is China's latter-day and famous illuminative ideologist. 严复是中国近代著名的启蒙思想家。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 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》

11 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

12 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

13 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 extermination   

n.消灭，根绝

参考例句：

• All door and window is sealed for the extermination of mosquito. 为了消灭蚊子，所有的门窗都被封闭起来了。 来自辞典例句
• In doing so they were saved from extermination. 这样一来却使它们免于绝灭。 来自辞典例句

15 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。