VOA标准英语2015--柬埔寨悼念大屠杀的受害者

Cambodia Inaugurates Memorial for Genocide Victims 柬埔寨悼念大屠杀的受害者

PHNOM PENH—

On Thursday a memorial was unveiled in Phnom Penh to the thousands of men, women and children who were brought to Cambodia’s notorious S-21 prison between 1975 and 1979, where they were tortured and then executed by Pol Pot’s murderous regime. Although many have welcomed the memorial, one aspect of it has proven controversial.

Hundreds of tourists visit Phnom Penh’s genocide museum each day to view the Khmer Rouge¹’s torture and execution prison.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, as it is called, has become a popular stop on the tourist trail.

In this former school, thousands of so-called enemies of the revolution were tortured to extract confessions² of their supposed guilt³.

On Thursday, dozens of government officials, donors⁴ and staff from the U.N.-backed war crimes court came here for the memorial’s unveiling.

Also present were family members of victims. And two of the men who survived the prison: Chum Mey, who repaired typewriters, and Bou Meng, an artist. They were kept alive by the prison commander, Comrade Duch, because they had skills he could use.

Almost every other prisoner was executed.

The new monument, a stupa, was built following a request from plaintiffs at the war crimes court that jailed Comrade Duch for life in 2012.

One of those plaintiffs was Im Sunty whose husband - a renowned⁵ Cambodian professor - was murdered here. She is glad to see the memorial unveiled.

“Now that the memorial has been built, it gives us some relief from the pain because now we have a place to pay our respects for those who died in Cambodia as well as those in this place,” she stated.

The names of more than 12,000 victims of S-21 will be inscribed⁶ on these black marble slabs⁷ that surround the stupa.

That’s where the controversy⁸ comes in. Youk Chhang is the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, the key organization researching the crimes of the Khmer Rouge.

He said 80 percent of those killed at S-21 were Khmer Rouge. Only 20 percent fall strictly⁹ into the category of victim.

He said listing every name mixes up victims - such as Im Sunty’s husband - with perpetrators. “Very controversial memorial - that’s why I liked the previous memorial. It was just spiritual memorial for all who died. But when you start to name and you start to inscript name, and you started to identify, then you create questions,” Youk Chhang said.

Baron¹⁰ Joachim von Marschall is Germany’s ambassador to Cambodia. His country funded the memorial.

He understands the controversy over the names but cautions that drawing the line between victims and perpetrators in such extreme situations is not always easy.

“And so I personally feel that it was a wise decision not to try to distinguish. Those who know about the past of victims here, they know to distinguish, I believe, and in the end all those who were in this torture chamber¹¹ perished in the same terrible, cruel way,” said Joachim von Marschall.

The memorial’s message never to forget what happened is something everyone agrees on.

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 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

4 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

6 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

9 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

10 baron   

n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王

参考例句：

• Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
• The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。

11 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。