VOA新闻杂志2022--缅甸军政府处决4名民主活动家

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Myanmar’s Military Government Executes 4 Democracy Activists²

Myanmar's ruling military has executed four democracy activists whom the government had accused of carrying out "terror acts."

The government confirmed Monday it had completed the executions, the first to be carried out in the country in more than 40 years. The action led to widespread condemnation⁴ from human rights groups and members of the international community.

The four men were accused of helping⁶ a resistance movement fight Myanmar's military government. They were sentenced to death during trials held in January and April. They were activists. The trials were not open to the public.

The military took power on February 1. The seizure⁷ came just as lawmakers were to take their seats in parliament. Elections had been held the November before. Military officials said the election was dishonest and the overthrow⁸ was necessary as a result. The country's electoral commission had rejected the army's claims of wrongdoing.

Among those executed was democracy campaigner Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Ko Jimmy, the country's Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. The 53-year-old was a longtime democracy activist¹ in the country. He had already spent more than 12 years in detention⁹ for political activism before his arrest in Yangon last October.

Kyaw Min Yu had been put on a wanted list for social media postings that the military government claimed led to unrest. State media said he was accused of terrorist acts including mine attacks and heading a militant¹⁰ group called the Moon Light Operation.

Also executed was 41-year-old Phyo Zeya Thaw¹¹, a former lawmaker and hip-hop music artist. The government ordered his arrest in November based on information from people detained for shooting at security force members, state media reported at the time.

Phyo Zeya Thaw was a close ally of Myanmar's ousted¹² civilian¹³ leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. He was jailed in 2008 under a past military government after being accused of having illegal contacts and owning foreign currency.

The two others executed were Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw. Both of them were sentenced to death in April for the March killing¹⁴ of a woman accused of being an informant for the military, the army chief said in an online statement.

Aung Myo Min is the human rights minister for the National Unity⁵ Government. The group is a civilian administration established outside of Myanmar after the military seized power.

The organization rejected the accusations¹⁵ that any of the men executed were involved in violence. "Punishing them with death is a way to rule the public through fear," Aung Myo Min told The Associated Press.

The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar said it mourned the loss of the four men and expressed sorrow to their families. It criticized the decision to execute them. "We condemn³ the military regime's execution of pro-democracy leaders and elected officials for exercising their fundamental freedoms," the embassy said.

Elaine Pearson, acting¹⁶ Asia director of Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press the legal process against the four had been politically driven and were "grossly unjust."

Thomas Andrews is an independent United Nations-appointed expert on human rights. He had condemned¹⁷ the decision to go ahead with the executions when they were announced in June.

Andrews called for a strong international reaction to the executions. "These individuals were tried, convicted and sentenced by a military (court) without the right of appeal and reportedly without legal counsel, in violation¹⁸ of international human rights laws," he said.

The last judicial¹⁹ execution to be carried out in Myanmar is generally believed to have been of another political prisoner, student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo, in 1976. That execution happened under a past military government.

Words in This Story

regime – n. a system of government or other control, especially one that people do not approve of

fundamental – adj. relating to the most important or main part of something

grossly – adv. extremely

convict – v. to decide officially in a court of law that someone is guilty of a particular crime

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 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》

3 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

4 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

8 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

9 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。

10 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

11 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

12 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

13 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。

14 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。

15 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。

16 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

17 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

18 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

19 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。