VOA双语新闻:3、美国寻求1994年卢旺达大屠杀的教训(在线收听

 

美国寻求1994年卢旺达大屠杀的教训

Two decades have passed since hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the Rwanda genocide, and Western powers were accused of standing by and allowing it to happen. Experts say there are lessons to be learned on how to prevent such tragedies in the future.

距卢旺达成千上万人遭杀害的大屠杀事件已经二十年了,西方大国被指控坐视不管,任其发生。专家称我们可以从中学会如何避免此类悲剧再次发生。首先是警示。这个故事包含可能令某些人感到不安的生动画面。

The world was shocked when an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were massacred in about 100 days, starting April 7, 1994.

自1994年4月7日开始,约有80万卢旺达人在100天内被屠杀。全世界为之震惊。

Tony Award winning actress, singer and Oscar-Nominated songwriter, Idina Menzel, who will perform the hit song "Let It Go" from the "Frozen" soundtrack at the Academy Awards, poses for a portrait, on Feb. 25, 2014, in New York.

Members of the ethnic Hutu majority killed about 70 percent of the minority Tutsis living in Rwanda, and many moderate Hutus.

占人口多数的一些胡图族人杀害了在卢旺达生活的70%的少数民族图西族人和许多温和派胡图族人。

U.S. President Bill Clinton was criticized at home and abroad for doing nothing to stop the slaughter.  Four years later, he visited Rwanda and apologized for his inaction.

美国总统克林顿被国内外批评没有对阻止屠杀作出任何努力。四年后,他访问了卢旺达并为他的不作为道歉。

"We did not act quickly enough after the killing began.  All over the world, there were people like me sitting in offices day after day after day, who did not fully appreciate the depth and the speed with which you were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror," he said.

克林顿说:"屠杀开始后,我们没有足够迅速地采取行动。全世界都有像我的人坐在办公室里任其一天天过去。我们并没有领会到自己已经被难以想象的恐怖吞没,不知它有多深,多快。"

Despite the vow of "never again," the catastrophe in Rwanda did not bring the end of widespread violence against civilians.

尽管有"永不再发生"的誓言,卢旺达的灾难并没有为大范围对国民的屠杀画上句号。

Genocide in Sudan's Darfur region and sectarian violence in the Central African Republic are among the acts of mass brutality since then that have left millions dead or homeless.

苏丹达尔富尔地区的屠杀和中非共和国的宗派冲突是大规模暴行的例子,它们导致数百万人死亡或无家可归。

In the Syrian civil war, at least 150,000 people are believed to have been killed, and President Barack Obama has been accused of inaction.

在叙利亚内战中,至少有十五万人被杀害,美国总统奥巴马被指责不作为。

Amnesty International's Adotei Akwei said opposition from Russia in the United Nations Security Council is blocking White House efforts to stop the violence in Syria.

国际特赦组织的阿豆提?阿卡维称,俄罗斯在联合国安全理事会的反对阻碍了白宫方面制止叙利亚混乱的努力。

"The international community has to end the crisis in Syria somehow, and the administration has been consistent in trying to do that, but it's not been able to actually achieve the results that we all want to see," Akwei said.

阿卡维说:“国际社会无论如何要结束叙利亚的危机,管理部门已经持续致力于此事,但是它尚未实现我们想看到的结果。”

Veteran U.S. diplomat Johnnie Carson, now a senior adviser at the U.S. Institute for Peace, said the Rwanda genocide taught the world it has to move quickly.

美国老兵、外交官,现任美国和平研究所高级顾问的约翰尼?卡森说,卢旺达屠杀告诉世界应当快速行动。

"Act swiftly, and to muster the resources of the international community to condemn and engage as quickly as possible when we see an atrocity about to occur," stated Carson

卡森说:“当看到暴行即将发生时,我们应当快速行动,召集国际社会的资源参与谴责暴力的行动。”

Ambassador Carson said the lessons of Rwanda and other massacres led Obama to establish an Atrocities Prevention Board, "...which is an inter-agency group that gets together once a month, under the direction of the National Security Council, to review situations around the world that may be likely to turn into atrocities or mass violence."

卡森大使说,卢旺达的教训和其他的屠杀促使奥巴马成立了防止暴行委员会。卡森说:“这是一个每月集会一次的跨机构组织,由美国国家安全委员会的指导,致力于检查全世界范围内可能导致暴行或大规模暴行的情况。”

Akwei said the board is a "major step forward," but efforts to prevent atrocities must start sooner.

阿卡维说防止暴行委员会是“向前迈出的一大步”,但是防止暴行的努力必须尽早开始。

"It would be better and probably more economical to try to challenge intolerance and hate propaganda earlier on, before all of the actors are in place when things are actually beginning to threaten people," he said.

阿卡维说:“在所有势力都到位并已实际开始威胁人们之前就努力设法制止不容忍和对仇恨的宣传会效果更好,或许更加经济。”

Akwei said the best way to prevent genocide is to show that the world is watching and will not tolerate it.

阿卡维说,防止暴行的办法就是显示出全世界都在关注,并且决不会容忍此事。

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/voabn/2014/04/253205.html