VOA慢速英语2014 越南反警察虐待的报告

 

AS IT IS 2014-09-20 Vietnam Rejects Reports of Police Abuse 越南反警察虐待的报告

Vietnam has rejected a report that accuses Vietnamese police of abusing detainees. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry¹ says the country has a “firm commitment” against all forms of torture or cruel treatments. A foreign ministry official said that Vietnamese laws require strict punishment for those involved in abuse.

Earlier in the week, Human Rights Watch expressed concern about abuses by Vietnamese police. It noted² an increase in reports of torture and deaths of individuals in police detention³, especially in rural areas of the country. The group released a report on the subject.

Almost two years ago, Vietnamese police detained Nguyen Tuan Thanh and his friend, Pham Quoc Nhat, in Dong Thap Province. Police suspected the two were robbers, and took them to the local police headquarters.

Pham Quoc Nhat says that, at the police station, they were both beaten severely⁴ on their arms and legs. He says the next day he could no longer hear the shouts of his friend. Nguyen Tuan Thanh died in detention before police took him to a hospital.

Human Rights Watch says the incident is just one example of widespread abuse of Vietnamese citizens while in police detention.

The report describes 28 cases of people who died while they were being held by police. Some of the deaths reportedly resulted from suicide. Others were from sickness or disease. The group also describes 22 cases of severe beatings, including that of an 11-year-old boy.

Phil Robertson is the deputy Asia Director for Human Rights Watch. He says many Vietnamese have complained about abuse of detainees by police.

“This is a report about farmers, and businessmen, local merchants, students, and others who ended up in police custody⁵ for activities that you or I would not consider to be out of the ordinary and, in fact, where laws were broken these were invariably minor⁶ infractions -- yet these people ended up dead or injured from beatings inflicted⁷ on them by police while they were being held in police custody."

The new report is based partly on information from government-controlled, Vietnamese-language newspapers. Human Rights Watch also used information from independent bloggers, citizen reporters and foreign news media.

The group says deaths often resulted when police used violence or torture to force people to admit to crimes. It said police were often accused of abuse, but were either not punished or were given light punishment.

The rights group is calling for reforms, more openness about abuse accusations⁸ and information about those being held in police detention. It also wants independent investigations⁹ of all accusations of police violence.

But officials in Vietnam say they are taking steps to deal with the problem.

Tran Dai Quang is the country’s Minister for Public Security. Earlier this month he spoke¹⁰ about the reports of abuse to a committee of Vietnam’s National Assembly. He said 19 police officers had been punished. He said they could be charged with crimes because of abuses.

The Ministry of Public Security also said that it had punished police involved in 183 cases over the past three years. Some of the officers were given light punishment. Others were removed from the police force or sent to other areas.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 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。

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

7 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 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。