VOA慢速英语2013 柬埔寨前领导人面临战争罪审判

 

AS IT IS 2013-11-06 Leaders from Cambodia's Past Face Trial for War Crimes  柬埔寨前领导人面临战争罪审判

Welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English. India wants to increase production of electricity to meet the demands of a growing population and industrial development. But the country has been slow to meet its goals for increasing nuclear energy production. Today, we hear about some of the issues affecting India’s nuclear energy industry. But first, we learn about a United Nations supported tribunal that is trying two former Khmer Rouge¹ leaders for war crimes.

Two Former Khmer Rouge Leaders Await a Tribunal’s Decision

The genocide trial of the last two surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge movement in Cambodia ended last week. Prosecuting² lawyers asked for life sentences to be given to the aged³ defendants⁵. June Simms has more from a report by VOA’s Robert Carmichael.

Nuon Chea was once called Brother Number Two for his position as the deputy to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot who died in 1998. The 87-year-old defendant⁴ said he had not received a fair trial. He said he had nothing to do with the crimes of which he is accused. An interpreter translated his words for the court.

“Through this trial it is clearly indicated that I was not engaged in any commission of the crimes as alleged⁶ by the co-prosecutors. In short, I am innocent in relation to those allegations.”

The former Khmer Rouge leader spoke⁷ for more than an hour while seated in a wheelchair. He said he loved his people and would not have let them suffer. He blamed Vietnamese and American agents whom he said had sought to weaken the revolution. Nuon Chea said he had no executive power during that time and had only learned the truth after 1979.

Two years ago, judges divided the complex case into a series of smaller trials. The charges include genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The first trial heard evidence related to three suspected crimes. One was the forced removal of people from Phnom Pehn in April 1975 when the Khmer Rouge, also called the Communist Party of Kampuchea, took power. The second crime involved the forced movement of people around Cambodia during the following two years. The third crime was the mass execution of hundreds of soldiers and officials from the defeated Lon Nol government in 1975.

Nuon Chea’s lawyer, Victor Koppe, said that during the evacuation of Phnom Penh there was no policy of killing⁸ people. He said later forced movements of people were carried out at the request of local leaders, not Khmer Rouge officials. He called for the charges against his client to be dismissed.

The other defendant, Khieu Samphan, is also in his 80s. His lawyer said he was tricked into his actions for the Khmer Rouge and that he did not know what was going on.

But international lawyer William Smith rejects that idea. He says many documents show that the Khmer Rouge had a policy to kill former members of the defeated Lon Nol regime.

A decision in this first of a series of trials is expected next year. It is estimated that 2 million Cambodians died from execution, starvation and disease during the rule of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. I’m June Simms.

India Struggles to Attract Foreign Investment in its Nuclear Power Industry

For many years, India has sought to increase its ability to produce electricity from nuclear power. However, a number of issues including an Indian law have slowed progress.  Jim Tedder⁹ has more on the story from reporter Anjana Pasricha in New Delhi.

A Russian-built nuclear power station started generating electricity in southern India last week. The Kudankulam nuclear plant is expected to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity once it is fully¹⁰ operational.

But in October, hopes of increasing the plant’s ability to generate even more power were put on hold. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was recently in Moscow for talks with Russian officials. Nuclear power activists¹¹ hoped he would sign a deal to purchase two new nuclear reactors¹². But the two sides failed to reach an agreement because of a civil nuclear liability law. The measure took effect in India in 2010. That is a year before the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. The nuclear cleanup is still taking place and has cost Japan billions of dollars.

Foreign suppliers of nuclear technology worry that the Indian law places too much financial liability, or responsibility, on them if there is an accident. They also say that India’s liability law is in disagreement with international nuclear policies.

Even with a delay, Indian officials believe they will get reactors from Russia. They say they will ease any differences within the coming months.

G. Balachandran is with the Institute of Defense¹³ Studies and Analysis. He says India has wanted to deal with some of the concerns by setting limits on the liability of foreign suppliers if an accident takes place.

India has hoped that nuclear energy would help the country meet its electricity needs. An agreement reached in 2008 with the United States lifted a 30-year ban on nuclear trade between the countries.

The deal was expected to create nearly $150 billion dollars of investment in India’s nuclear energy industry from Russia, France and the United States. But, so far, little progress has been made.

In September, India signed a preliminary agreement with Westinghouse Electric, based in the United States, to buy reactors. Still, many experts blame the liability law for slowing negotiations¹⁴. G. Balachandran says foreign companies are concerned that other countries will follow India by passing similar laws.

India had sought to increase its nuclear energy capacity from less than 5,000 to 63,000 megawatts in 20 years. But legal issues and growing local concerns about safety have made nuclear power unpopular. India’s Supreme¹⁵ Court ruled in May that the Kundankulam nuclear plant was safe and necessary for the country’s economic growth.

I’m Jim Tedder.

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 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

5 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

6 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

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 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。

9 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

13 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。

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。