VOA慢速英语2014 联合国称击落马航客机或是“战争罪行”

 

AS IT IS 2014-07-29 UN: Downing of Malaysian Airliner¹ Maybe 'War Crime' 联合国称击落马航客机或是“战争罪行”

A United Nations official says the shooting down of a Malaysian airplane over eastern Ukraine may be judged a war crime.

Navi Pillay is the UN High Commissioner² for Human Rights.  On Monday, she called for an independent investigation³ to establish the events that led to the incident.  

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down with a surface-to-air missile earlier this month.  The plane crashed in territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Rupert Colville is a spokesman for Navy Pillay.  He says no one believes the crash was an accident.  He says it is widely accepted that the plane was shot down. 

“The proof about who exactly is not there yet and that is why you need a full investigation.  But, if this plane was shot down, as most people seem to think, then obviously the question of whether this is a war crime would come up.  It contained around 300 civilians⁵ and they were killed.”

The human rights chief’s office released a report on human rights in Ukraine.  The report notes a sharp increase in the number of human rights violations⁶ in eastern Ukraine between June 8th and July 15th.  It describes a serious worsening of the situation in areas controlled by armed groups.

The report says armed groups continue to capture, detain, torture and execute people.  It says the groups take such actions to frighten and exercise power over the local population.

Gianni Magazzeni is the chief of the Americas, Europe, and Central Asia Branch at the U.N. Human Rights Office.  He says armed groups have kidnapped or detained more than 800 people in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas since the middle of April.  He says these individuals are held until someone pays for their release.  He says they may also be exchanged for rebels held by the central government in Kyiv.  And he says the detainees also are used to build defenses for the armed groups or to fight government forces.

“The report also describes a total breakdown⁷ of law and order and the reign⁸ of fear and terror that exists in these areas under the control of the armed groups. The report also notes the professionalization of the armed groups with increasing, well-organized and well-equipped militarily led both politically and militarily by citizens of the Russian Federation⁹. There are also instances referred to in the report in which a military tribunal has been convicting people to death.”

The UN report says at least 1,129 people have been killed and more than 3,400 wounded in Ukraine since April.  And it says more than 100,000 have been displaced within the country.  

The report says the UN human rights office is worried about the increase in the number of heavy weapons in civilian⁴ areas.  These weapons include artillery¹⁰, tanks, rockets and missiles.  It says this is resulting in greater loss of life and severe damage to buildings, bridges and other infrastructure¹¹.  And it says the infrastructure will be extremely costly¹² to repair once the fighting ends.

The UN human rights office also says the situation in Crimea continues to worsen.  Russia took control of Crimea in March.  The report also noted¹³ an increase in harassment¹⁴ of and discrimination against Ukrainian nationals, Crimean Tatars, religious minorities and activists¹⁵.  I’m Bob Doughty¹⁶.

1 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 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。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

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 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。

7 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

8 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

10 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

15 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》

16 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。