VOA慢速英语2017--国际特赦组织:数千人叙利亚人遭绞刑

 

Amnesty International says the Syrian government has executed thousands of prisoners in what it considers war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The rights group is accusing the government of carrying out systematic¹ torture at a jail 30 kilometers from the Syrian capital, Damascus.?

In a report published on Tuesday, Amnesty International said that between 5,000 and 13,000 prisoners were executed from September 2011 to December 2015.

Once or twice a week, groups of up to 50 people at a time were hanged at the Saydnaya Prison, Amnesty said. They would be beaten, then hanged in the middle of the night, it said.

The numbers may well be higher, noted² the writers of the report, called “Human Slaughterhouse: Mass Hangings and Extermination³ at Saydnaya Prison.”

Amnesty said it has no reason to believe the Syrian government has halted the executions. It said most of the victims were civilians⁴ believed to oppose the government of President Bashar al-Assad. They included doctors, lawyers, activists⁵, engineers and humanitarian⁶ workers, the rights group said.

The report took a year to complete. It is based on statements from 84 witnesses, including former Saydnaya guards and prison officials, detainees, judges, lawyers and experts on detention⁷ in Syria.

This is Amnesty’s second report on the prison.

The killings⁹ are carried out with little or no respect for the law, according to Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty’s Deputy Director of Research. She spoke¹⁰ in Beirut, Lebanon on Monday.

Maalouf said the executions take place after a “sham¹¹” trial that lasts only “a minute or three minutes.” She said they are approved by the “highest levels of authority,” including the minister of defense¹².

The government has execution panels that oversee¹³ the hangings, Maalouf added. In her words, “it is just impossible” that the hangings and the execution panels are taking place “without the knowledge of the highest levels of authority.”

The report calls on the United Nations Security Council to demand that Syria permit an independent investigation¹⁴ of the executions at Saydnaya. It said the government should let independent investigators¹⁵ visit all places of detention.

Amnesty said on Tuesday it asked the Syrian government to comment on claims made in the report, but received no response. In the past, the government has denied reports of massacres¹⁷ documented by international rights groups.

In addition to the hangings, the Amnesty report said, prison inmates¹⁸ are regularly tortured through severe beatings and sexual violence.

“They are denied adequate food, water, medicine, medical care and sanitation¹⁹, which has led to the rampant²⁰ spread of infection and disease,” it said.

They also say many detainees develop serious mental disorders²¹.

In other news, the United Nations confirmed that Syrian peace talks will restart later this month in Geneva, Switzerland. Talks between the warring sides were delayed until the 20th [of February] to give a ceasefire time to succeed.

Syria’s six-year-long civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and wounded many more.

Words in This Story

extermination - n. the act of destroying and killing⁸

sham - adj. something that is not what it appears to be and that is meant to trick or deceive people

massacre¹⁶ – n. the violent killing of many people

response - n. answer

adequate – adj. enough for some need or requirement

sanitation – n. the process of keeping places free from dirt, infection, disease, etc., by removing waste, trash and garbage, by cleaning streets, etc.

rampant – adj. growing quickly in a way that is difficult to control

1 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

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 extermination   

n.消灭，根绝

参考例句：

• All door and window is sealed for the extermination of mosquito. 为了消灭蚊子，所有的门窗都被封闭起来了。 来自辞典例句
• In doing so they were saved from extermination. 这样一来却使它们免于绝灭。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 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》

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 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。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 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。

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。

11 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

14 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。

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

17 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

18 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

20 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

21 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》