中东—叙利亚库尔德人为权力而斗争

Syria's Kurds Struggle for Rights

叙利亚库尔德人为权力而斗争

 

In eastern Syria, there are people who have been working the land and filling towns and villages, as their ancestors did, for ages. But despite their long presence and labors¹, these people have been told that they are, in official terms, not there, and that they are not entitled to the benefits of the nation in which they live. They are Kurds.

 

Syria's ruling Ba'ath Party has created an official singular Syrian identity as an Arab state. To achieve that identity, ethnic² minorities like Syria's Kurds have been supressed, often brutally³.

 

Joe Stork⁴, with Human Rights Watch in Washington, outlines how many Kurds have been deprived of citizen rights.

 

Joe Stork: The main points of discrimination have to do with their legal standing⁵. Many of them don't even have identification cards, which are essential for getting necessities like education, like health care and so forth⁶. This is accentuated⁸ by the fact that they are the largest ethnic minority in the country.

 

Kurds make up some 8% percent of Syria's population and live mostly in the eastern part of the country toward the border with Iraq.

 

In November 1962, the Syrian government declared that 100,000 of its Kurds were not citizens. Damascus claimed that their ancestors were not listed on Ottoman civil registration⁹ records dating before 1920. Also stripped of citizenship¹⁰ were politically active Kurds who spoke¹¹ out against the government. Since then, the number of stateless Syrian Kurds has grown to more than 200,000 people.

 

The suppression of Kurds and other minorities increased markedly when Haffez al-Asad, leading the Ba'ath Party, became president of Syria in 1970. Syria's Ba'athists began a program of 'Arabization' about the same time that Iraqi President and Ba'ath Party leader Saddam Hussein launched a similar program.

 

Pary Karadaghi, Director of Kurdish Human Rights Watch in Washington, says one of the most basic ways of showing Kurdish identity was taken away.

 

Pary Karadaghi: The campaign of 'Arabization' actually replaced the Kurdish names. People could not have Kurdish names on cities, buildings [and] businesses. Children's names could not be Kurdish.

 

Syria's Kurds struggled for years to survive despite government oppression on many fronts. They closely watched their Iraqi counterparts, who achieved a measure of autonomy in the 1990s, and pressed Damascus for their own rights. Their demands were ignored or sometimes met with waves of repression¹².

 

In March of last year, Syrian Kurds exploded in violence. A brawl¹³ at a football [soccer] game in the town of Qameshli between Arab and Kurdish teams turned into five days of rioting against the government that left at least 25 people dead and many more injured. Damascus responded to the clash by rounding up and jailing a number of Kurdish activists¹⁴. Karim Hassan, with an expatriate group called the Council of Syrian Kurds, says the confrontation¹⁵ sparked a new spirit of resistance among Kurds.

 

Karim Hassan: After the uprising of March 12, 2004, from the Kurdish perspective there have been positive developments because the Kurds are no longer afraid of Syrian state security. But from the government side, things still are not good, because there have not been any changes despite promises from the Presiden.

 

Clashes erupted again in Qameshli this past June after a prominent Kurdish cleric was found dead. Kurds insist he was tortured and killed by Syria's state intelligence service.

 

In the wake of these confrontations¹⁶, the Ba'ath Party Congress announced that it would establish a "Security Committee" to investigate the situation. Karim Hassan at the Council of Syrian Kurds says this committee has held limited meetings with Kurdish tribal¹⁷ leaders. But he says the Ba'athists are avoiding discussions with Kurdish political parties to avoid acknowledging their separate political identity.

 

VOA has contacted the Syrian Embassy in Washington in an attempt to get official statements regarding the status of Kurds and other minorities in Syria. The embassy has not provided that information.

 

International humanitarian¹⁸ organizations want direct access to Syrian Kurds and other minority groups to asses¹⁹ their plight²⁰ and begin assistance. One such organization is Refugees International in Washington. The group's Research Director, Maureen Lynch, says that it is also time for the United Nations to get directly involved on behalf of Syria's minorities.

 

Maureen Lynch: The UN High Commissioner²¹ for Refugees, does have a particular responsibility to be assisting in reducing the number of stateless persons. And this would include these Kurds in Syria. And once there's that international attention through a body such as the UN, governments sometimes will respond in a more favorable way than they've done on their own.

 

Along with international attention, there is another dynamic in play that could pressure Damascus to respect the rights of Kurds and other minorities. Pary Karadaghi at Kurdish Human Rights Watch points to significant advances in Iraq.

 

Pary Karadaghi: It is very hard for the Kurds in Syria to be immune to what is going on in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurdish population in Syria has been watching for years. Many have been working very closely with the Kurds of Iraq to achieve the same level of success that the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan have achieved.

 

But while pressure for change by the Syrian government has been growing, Damascus has taken only minimal²² steps toward ending its denial of ethnic identities and human rights. Many observers say Syria's ruling Ba'ath Party sees such changes as a threat to their grip on the country. But other observers say that Damascus has no choice but to change in the face of international pressure, though that may not happen until the Ba'athists from the era of Haffez al-Asad who still influence his son, current president Bashar al-Asad, are gone.

 

Meanwhile, Syria's Kurds say they are tired of waiting.

 

For focus, I’m Jeffrey Young.

 

注释：

ancestor [5AnsistE] n. 祖先，祖宗

Kurd [kE:d] n. 库尔德人（主要居住在伊拉克、伊朗、土耳其及叙利亚边界的地区）

brutally [5bru:tli] adv. 残酷地

deprive [di5praiv] v. 剥夺，使丧失

accentuate⁷ [Ak5sentjueit] vt. 强调；使更明显

Ottoman [5CtEmEn] adj. 土耳其人的

autonomy [C:5tCnEmi] n. 自治

Damascus [dE5mAskEs] n. 大马士革（叙利亚首都）

brawl [brC:l] n. 争吵；打架

expatriate [eks5pAtriEt] adj. 被逐出国外的，移居国外的

erupt [i5rQpt] vi. 爆发

immune [i5mju:n] adj. 免受（伤害）的

denial [di5naiEl] n. 否认；否定

1 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

4 stork   

n.鹳

参考例句：

• A Fox invited a long-beaked Stork to have dinner with him.狐狸请长嘴鹳同他一起吃饭。
• He is very glad that his wife's going to get a visit from the stork.他为她的妻子将获得参观鹳鸟的机会感到非常高兴。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 accentuate   

v.着重，强调

参考例句：

• She has beautiful eyes, so we should accentuate them in the makeup.她眼睛很美丽，我们在化妆时应该突出她的眼睛。
• Mrs Obamas speeches rarely accentuate the positive.奥巴马夫人的演讲很少强调美国积极的一面。

8 accentuated   

v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于

参考例句：

• The problem is accentuated by a shortage of water and electricity. 缺乏水电使问题愈加严重。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her black hair accentuated the delicateness of her skin. 她那乌黑的头发更衬托出她洁嫩的皮肤。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

10 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

11 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。

12 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

13 brawl   

n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂

参考例句：

• They had nothing better to do than brawl in the street.他们除了在街上斗殴做不出什么好事。
• I don't want to see our two neighbours engaged in a brawl.我不希望我们两家吵架吵得不可开交。

14 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》

15 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

16 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 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。

19 asses   

n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人

参考例句：

• Sometimes I got to kick asses to make this place run right. 有时我为了把这个地方搞得像个样子，也不得不踢踢别人的屁股。 来自教父部分
• Those were wild asses maybe, or zebras flying around in herds. 那些也许是野驴或斑马在成群地奔跑。

20 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

21 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。

22 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。