VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-03-13 UN Says North Korea Guilty of Crimes against Humanity 联合国称朝鲜犯下反人类罪

 

AS IT IS 2014-03-13 UN Says North Korea Guilty of Crimes against Humanity 联合国称朝鲜犯下反人类罪

Hello and welcome back.  I’m Jim Tedder¹ in Washington.  On today’s program, we talk about two serious subjects.  The United Nations says some very bad things have been happening to people in North Korea.  A recent report says these acts are as horrible as some of the Nazi² atrocities³ of World War II. We will have complete details.

Then we turn to Japan.  Some person, or perhaps more than one, has been damaging all the copies of a very famous book that they can find in libraries.  So far, who and why remain a mystery.

So we invite you to listen carefully to As It Is to hear about what is happening in the world, and improve your American English at the same time. 

A United Nations commission says North Korean officials - and possibly even North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - should be tried for crimes against humanity.

A report released in February by the U.N.’s Commission of Inquiry⁴ on North Korea compares many of the abuses to crimes committed by the Nazis⁵ during World War Two. 

"… the abductions, of the public executions, and of the fact that many people simply disappear."

Michael Kirby is the commission's Chairman.

"The suffering and the tears of the people of North Korea demand action, and that is the proposal of the Commission of Inquiry."

The Commission’s results come from a year-long investigation⁶.  It interviewed 80 witnesses.  These people confirmed similar stories from other alleged⁷ victims.

The Commission also used satellite pictures of alleged prison camps in North Korea.  North Korea says these camps do not exist.  Amnesty International also used testimony⁸ from people who survived the camps in North Korea to prove their claims of human rights abuses.

"When my parents starved to death, I didn't have coffins⁹ for them. I wrapped their bodies with straw, carried them on my back, and went to bury them myself.  And the children … I lost all my family."

 “Women will go through a blood test to check for pregnancy¹⁰ and any diseases you get through having sex.  They would force abortion¹¹ after the pregnancy test.  Pregnant women get sent to labor¹² camps to carry loads up and down the hills which cause the women to lose the babies.” 

Amnesty's Roseann Rife¹³ hopes the new report will make a difference. 

"This may be the best chance we have to get the North Korean government to take action to improve the human rights situation. So it is critical that the United Nations make the best use of this report."

North Korea refused to cooperate with the inquiry.  North Korean officials told Reuters News Agency they reject the findings in the report. 

But the commission said that it sent North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a letter detailing the evidence.  The commission also warned the leader of North Korea that he could be held responsible for crimes committed under his rule.

Again, commission leader Michael Kirby:

"Now the international community does know.  Now the international community will know. There will be no excusing a failure of action because we didn't know."

The United States issued a statement about the report.  Officials say it gives strong evidence of serious and widespread human rights violations¹⁴.

The commission wants the North Korean alleged abuses sent to the International Criminal Court.

 

Famous Books Damaged in Japan

Japanese police are searching for the people who destroyed hundreds of copies of Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl” in dozens of libraries across Tokyo.

Since the end of January of this year, more than 30 libraries in the Tokyo area have reported damage to nearly 300 books dealing¹⁵ with the teenager killed during the Holocaust¹⁶.  Anne Frank’s famous diary tells about her time spent in hiding during the Nazi German occupation of the Netherlands during the Second World War.

Her diary reads like a normal teenager’s diary.  In other words, it is full of her thoughts about herself and her hopes for the future.  It also tells of her daily struggles for survival, and her fear of being discovered.  In the end, the Germans did find her family, and they were sent to concentration camps.  In 1945 Anne died of typhus while in the Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany.  She was only 15 years old.

Her father Otto was the only member of the immediate¹⁷ family to survive the war.  He published Anne’s diary in 1947.  Anne’s “Diary of Young Girl” has sold millions of copies and has become a symbol of the Holocaust.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper is an associate Dean with the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations.  Rabbi Cooper says that he feels this is not the act of just one person.

“Obviously you’re not talking about one or two incidents.  You’re talking about a wide geographic¹⁸ area. We’re talking about some sort of organized effort.”

Toshihiro Obayashi is the deputy director of the central library in Japan’s Suginami area.  Mr. Obayashi said that “each and every book which comes up under the index of Anne Frank has been damaged at our libraries.”  He adds that nothing like this has ever happened before.

Rotem Kowner is professor of Japanese history and culture at the University of Haifa in Israel.  He says that “Diary of a Young Girl” is probably one of the most popular books for youth in Japan, and has been throughout the postwar years. 

Rabbi Cooper agrees.  He says “The Diary of Anne Frank” makes best-seller lists in Japan year after year. 

“Whoever did this understands the importance of Anne’s message, of who she was, what happened to her, the lessons we should be learning from the Nazi era and the Second World War.”

He also believes that those who attacked the memory of Anne Frank did so for nationalistic reasons. 

“There is a huge internal debate and struggle within Japan, and of course across Asia, of coming to grips with what happened in the era of Imperial Japan and the atrocities that took place in Asia, and the current tensions between especially China and Japan.  A lot of it surrounds unresolved questions of history, of apology, remorse¹⁹ et cetera.”

But Japan’s government has criticized the attacks on Anne Frank books.  Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the damage done to the books “shameful.” 

This all comes at a time when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also being criticized for his nationalist policies.  Beijing and Seoul were quick to criticize Prime Minister Abe’s recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine²⁰.  This is a monument to the Japan’s war dead that also includes the remains²¹ of 14 convicted war criminals.

Before we leave you, let’s take a quick look back in time.  On this date in 1781, the planet Uranus²² was discovered by an Englishman named William Herschel.  74 years later, Percival Lowell was born.  He was an American astronomer²³ whose work helped in the discovery of Pluto²⁴. 

And 75 years ago today, a baby boy was born in Brooklyn, New York, to the Sedaka family.  Neil Sedaka went on to write over 500 songs.  I can remember hearing him sing “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” during the early years of rock and roll.  But I always dreamed about, and lusted²⁵ over, the woman whose picture Neil kept on his wall.

1 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

2 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

3 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

5 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 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

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

9 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

10 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。

11 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

14 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。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

17 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

18 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

19 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

20 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

21 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

22 Uranus   

n.天王星

参考例句：

• Uranus is unusual because it is tilted.天王星非常特殊，因为它是倾斜的。
• Uranus represents sudden change and rebellion.天王星代表突然性的改变和反叛。

23 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

24 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

25 lusted   

贪求（lust的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He had even lusted for Halina, already woven a net in readiness to ensnare her. 他甚至贪恋海莉娜，已经编织了一个罗网，在引诱她落进去。
• Men feared him and women lusted after the handsome warrior. 男人们害怕他，女人们纷纷追求这个英俊的勇士。