过去两年伊拉克有19000平民死亡

AS IT IS 2016-01-24 Nearly 19,000 Iraqi Civilians¹ Killed in Two Years 过去两年伊拉克有19000平民死亡

The United Nations says that nearly 19,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the fighting with Islamic State militants² in the past two years.

In addition to the 18,800 civilians deaths, the United Nations report says another 36,000 were wounded between January 2014 and October 2015.

The report includes interviews from victims, survivors³ or witnesses of violations⁴.

Ravina Shamdasani is a U.N. human rights spokesperson. She says the numbers do not fully⁵ represent what is happening in Iraq. The report only includes the number of people directly killed by violence. It does not include many others who have died from lack of access to food, water or medical care.

UN blames Islamic State

U.N. observers blame most of these deaths on Islamic State militants. They say victims include those seen as being opposed to the terror group’s rule. Victims have included government civil servants, doctors and lawyers, journalists and tribal⁶ and religious leaders. The report says women and children are subject to sexual violence and sexual slavery.

The report finds that people judged by Islamic State's self-appointed courts face punishments, such as stoning and amputations. It details examples of public executions. The examples include shootings, beheadings, burning people alive and throwing people off of buildings.

Crimes against humanity

The U.N. spokesperson says some of the incidents are war crimes and crimes against humanity.  She says the Islamic State targets ethnic⁷ and religious minorities.

The U.N. finds pro-government forces also are guilty of human rights violations. It says it has received reports of unlawful killings⁸ and other abuses by those forces. The U.N. report notes some of these incidents may have been actions against supposed Islamic State supporters.

Words in This Story

spokesperson - n. a person who speaks for someone else or a group

access - n. a way of getting at or near someone or something

journalists - n. news reporters; media workers

amputate – v. to cut off (part of a person's body)

1 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。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 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。

5 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。

6 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。