Russia Bans US Officials in Diplomatic Dispute

 　　Russia is banning visits by certain U.S. officials in retaliation¹ for Washington's blacklisting of Russian officials allegedly involved in the prison death of a whistleblower.

　　Russia's Foreign Ministry² said on its website Saturday that it is blacklisting unspecified U.S. officials Moscow says were involved in abductions of terrorism suspects, torture of inmates³ at Guantanamo prison, and killings⁴ of civilians⁵ in Afghanistan and Iraq.

　　The move is in response to the U.S. State Department's decision in July to ban dozens of unidentified Russian officials allegedly involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

　　Magnitsky was arrested in 2009 for what his supporters said were phony tax evasion⁶ charges.  He died nearly a year later at age 37 after prison authorities withheld⁷ medical care and possibly life-saving surgery.

　　U.S. law requires the State Department to deny visas to anyone accused of human rights violations⁸, including torture.

　　Magnitsky worked for a U.S.-owned investment fund in Russia.  He accused Russian police officials of stealing fund documents as part of a scheme to pocket hundreds of millions of dollars.

　　Those same police officials arrested Magnitsky, charging him with tax evasion.  He spent nearly a year in jail in poor health, denied the care which could possibly have saved his life.

1 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 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。

6 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

7 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。