VOA慢速英语2013 南苏丹律师面对的斗争

AS IT IS 2013-11-12 Lawyers in South Sudan Face Struggles 南苏丹律师面对的斗争

Hello, and welcome to As It Is.  I’m George Grow.

Today we tell about struggles facing lawyers in South Sudan. They are helping¹ the country’s government control rebels -- within the rule of law.  

Next, we hear a report about the dangers of pregnancy² to girls under age 18.

And finally, we remember Grace Kelly, the American film actress who became a European princess.

But first, we turn to a young nation’s struggles to establish law and order -- how lawyers are helping.

Lawyers in South Sudan Face Struggles 

South Sudan won its independence from Sudan in 2011 after many years of bitter fighting. Today, a government made up of former warlords -- former militia³ leaders -- is  seeking to control life-long rebels within the rule of law.

At the center of this new battle are about 250 lawyers. They are working hard in one of the most dangerous jobs in the country.

Deng Awur is the head of South Sudan’s only law college. He works in a dark office at Juba University. The office has no electricity, and his law books serve as the  only library.

Mr. Awur says about 80 people will finish their law school studies and graduate this year. Their skills are deeply needed if the government is to establish the rule of  law.

About 250 lawyers have returned to South Sudan from overseas. Mr. Awur says their skills are as mixed as those of members of the country’s legal systems. South Sudan  is moving back to a common law system. The system was first established in Sudan during British colonial rule. Islamic law came to Sudan in the 1980s.

But more than 60 tribes are using differing customary laws. Mr. Awur says those systems treat half the population unfairly.

“A woman cannot inherit property of her husband or her father. But there are real, real issues for women, and laws -- the law is clear, the law is clear. The law is  not taking chances with anybody. So we hope, through time, people will be enlightened to accept that reality that human beings are the same. The law is for everybody,  the constitution is for everyone, and there is no bias⁴. We don’t want any bias against or for anybody.”

?Juba University has stopped teaching Sharia law. In the past, Sharia was one of its main subjects.

Victor Lowilla directs legal aid at the South Sudan Law Society. He says Sharia still influences current laws and must be removed.

Mr. Lowilla wants all of South Sudan’s laws to be re-examined. He wants to prevent chiefs from declaring strong sentences. And he calls for ending a number of cruel  practices that continue under customary law. For example, a custom called “ghost marriages” forces women to marry dead men. This tradition calls for a young girl to  be given as payment to the family of a murdered man.

Mr. Lowilla also notes that lack of lawyers has left many people in jail, unable to get hearings before judges. But the shortage is most worrying for the hundreds of  people awaiting execution. These prisoners are individuals suspected of crimes like murder or rebellion.

Mr. Lowilla says prison officials help some of them. And he says others who have enough money can get a lawyer to help with their appeals.

“But most of them have no lawyers to represent them during their cases. They have no lawyers to do their appeals. So they have no lawyers to write for them, even, I  mean, to write the president to pardon them. “

?Lawyers often must travel great distances to help people who need representation. Victor Lowilla says 80 percent of South Sudanese live in rural areas. Yet 85 percent  of the country’s lawyers live in Juba, the capital.

In one case in Western Bahr el Ghazal, five lawyers were defending 50 suspects after protests in which security forces attacked civilians⁵. The lawyers received death  threats or were threatened outside the court.

I’m George Grow. 

Now, on to problems of pregnancy and childbirth for teenage girls…

The Dangers of Pregnancy for Girls Under 18 

A United Nations report says millions of adolescent girls suffer serious long-term health and social problems from pregnancy. The UN Population Fund recently released  its State of the World Population report in Geneva, Switzerland. It found that 7.3 million girls under age 18 give birth worldwide every year. The young mothers  include two million girls younger than 14.

Giving birth to a baby should be a happy time in a woman’s life. But for millions of young girls around the world, early pregnancy and childbirth result in serious  problems. 

The UN’s State of the World Population 2013 report finds that in developing countries, 20,000 girls under 18 give birth every day. The report estimates that 70,000  young women in developing countries die each year during pregnancy and childbirth.

The director of the UN Population Fund in Geneva, Alanna Armitage, says young girls are more likely to be forced to marry and have sex. She says death among mothers  under age 15 from low- and middle-income countries is twice that of older women.

The report demonstrates the economic results of adolescent pregnancy. For example, the report considers Kenya. It says the Kenyan economy would have improved greatly  if the more than 200,000 young mothers studied had been employed instead of getting pregnant. It says the economy would have gained 3.4 billion dollars.

The report finds that in every area of the world, poor, undereducated girls from rural areas are more likely to become pregnant than richer urban girls. UNFPA Senior  Maternal Health Advisor⁶ Luc de Bernis says the young mothers most threatened with death live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. 

He also notes that many young women die from getting abortions⁷ -- the medical end of pregnancy.

The report says adolescent pregnancy is a much bigger problem for the developing world than for developed nations. But, it finds that pregnancy for young girls is  still important in richer nations. And it says society should help girls and young women instead of blaming them for getting pregnant.

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

Hollywood Princess     

Now, time to remember the birth anniversary of an American actress who became a lasting⁸ symbol of beauty and glamour⁹. Grace Patricia Kelly was born in Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania on November 12th, 1929. She is remembered for many films like “Rear Window,” “Dial M for Murder” and “To Catch a Thief.” She won an Academy Award  for her work in “Country Girl.” 

Grace Kelly gave up her career to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. They had three children. In 1982, Princess Grace died after an automobile¹⁰ accident. She was only 52  years old.

I’m George Grow. Thanks for joining us on As It Is.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

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 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

7 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

9 glamour   

n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住

参考例句：

• Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
• The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。

10 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。