2006年VOA标准英语-Egyptian Police Accused of Torturing Protester

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
29 May 2006

Supporters of the opposition¹ umbrella group Kifaya, or "Enough", chant anti government slogans during a demonstration² in Cairo
(File photo - Jan. 27, 2006)   
  
Opposition activists⁴ in Egypt are accusing the police of torturing and sexually abusing a protester who was arrested after a peaceful demonstration last week. The man's lawyer says he is seriously injured and has been denied medical treatment for four days. 

-----------------------------------

People who have seen Mohammed el-Sharqawi say every inch of his body is covered with bruises⁵, cuts and welts.

One of his lawyers, Gamal Eid, told reporters that the defense⁶ team nearly cried when they saw him on the night he was arrested - he was a different person than the man they had seen that morning.

"We could not see his eyes because they were so swollen⁷. He could barely speak through his battered⁸ mouth. There were shoe prints on his neck and chest," said Eid.

The lawyer says Sharqawi was examined by a doctor Sunday, after 72 hours in police custody⁹, but has received no medical treatment. His injuries are believed to be severe, and possibly life-threatening.

Other political detainees say they are going on a hunger strike until he is treated, and until the people who beat him are held accountable.

VOA's phone calls to several Interior Ministry¹⁰ spokesmen went unanswered. The ministry has issued terse¹¹ statements to a few other news organizations denying the allegations of torture.

Sharqawi and his colleague Karim el-Shaer were arrested Thursday after a peaceful demonstration. Both men had been released from prison only days earlier, after being jailed for participating in earlier anti-government protests.

Eyewitnesses¹² said both of them were beaten severely¹³ in the street by plainclothes security agents known locally as baltagaya, or thugs.

The prosecutor¹⁴ has ordered that they be held in custody for 15 days.

In a written message smuggled¹⁵ out of his prison cell and circulated over the Internet, Sharqawi graphically¹⁶ describes beatings and abuse during his arrest. He accuses police and state security agents of sexually assaulting him using a rolled-up piece of cardboard.

Another activist³, Ahmed El-Droubi, shared a cell with Sharqawi for 28 days before they were both released last week. He visited his old cell mates in prison on Saturday, after a bruised¹⁷ and battered Sharqawi had re-joined them.

"And I saw him. He was physically¹⁸ destroyed. Psychologically, he was very roughed-up ... He is urinating blood. They actually stomped¹⁹ and kicked his sexual organs until he peed blood right there while they were torturing him. But after all that, he is still strong. He still smiles. Definitely, he was broken inside, but he still believes in what he is doing, and he will not stop," he said.

El-Sharqawi is a member of a group called Youth For Change, an offshoot of the reform movement known as Kifaya, which is Arabic for Enough.

Kifaya leader George Ishak denounced the treatment of Mohammed el-Sharqawi. "This thuggery … these crimes will not stop us. If we remain silent in the face of these violations²⁰, then we are all violated," he said.

More than 500 activists have been arrested during the past five weeks for participating in demonstrations²¹ in support of the independence of the judiciary.

Most of the detainees are members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood²². Others, like Mohammed Sharqawi, come from Kifaya or other secular²³ or leftist political groups.

The crackdown on peaceful protesters has drawn²⁴ criticism from the European Union and the U.S. State Department.

The U.S. Congress is considering whether to renew the United States' $1.7-billion economic and military aid package for Egypt for another year. The House appropriations²⁵ committee approved the package last week, over the objections of some committee members who are concerned about Egypt's human-rights record. The Bush administration backed passage of the bill, calling good relations with Egypt vital to U.S. national interests.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

3 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。

4 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》

5 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

8 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

9 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。

10 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。

11 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。

12 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

13 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。

14 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

15 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

16 graphically   

adv.通过图表；生动地，轮廓分明地

参考例句：

• This data is shown graphically on the opposite page. 对页以图表显示这些数据。
• The data can be represented graphically in a line diagram. 这些数据可以用单线图表现出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

18 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

19 stomped   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲，重步走出办公室。
• She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门，暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句

20 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。

21 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

22 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

23 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

24 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

25 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件