2007年VOA标准英语-Rights Group Warns of More Violence in Rwanda

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
22 January 2007

An international human-rights watchdog is warning that Rwanda could erupt into a new cycle of violence if the authorities do not protect participants of the country's grassroots trials that hear and prosecute¹ cases related to the 1994 genocide. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

In its report, Human Rights Watch says the murders last November of a genocide survivor² and a judge in the grassroots gacaca court system sparked a series of revenge killings³, leaving a total of 13 people dead.

The senior Africa advisor⁴ to Human Rights Watch, Alison Des Forges, tells VOA the authorities had not responded adequately to the killings. In the case of three deaths, she says, witnesses and evidence suggest that police may have extrajudicially executed the three victims.

"This pattern of failure to follow through has caused an increase in tensions, which is a very serious matter in a post-genocide situation," said Des Forges.

During Rwanda's 1994 genocide, Hutu extremists killed up to 800,000 Tutsis and

massacre5 by Hutu extremists at UN-run camp in Gatumba, Burundi, began the grim task <br/>(File photo - 15 Aug 2004)" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070517/1341410.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Covered bodies are laid out as Tutsi refugees from Congo, who survived a massacre by Hutu extremists at UN-run camp in Gatumba, Burundi, began the grim task (File photo - 15 Aug 2004)

moderate Hutus.

The masterminds of the genocide, high-ranking officials in the then-Hutu government, media, and military, are having their trials heard at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda based in Tanzania.

Those who participated in the killings, lootings, and other crimes of the genocide are having their cases heard through the gacaca system, courts at the village level presided over by specially-trained community members chosen for their moral integrity.

The gacaca system, instituted in part to clear the enormous backlog⁶ in the Rwandan court system, has come under fire in the past from both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The groups have said they fear the system may be subject to political pressures and may lack some basic internationally recognized safeguards.

Human Rights Watch's Des Forges tells VOA that both Hutu and Tutsi victims of the recent violence say that the authorities' protection is inadequate⁷, ineffective, and biased⁸ against their ethnic⁹ group.

She says, if nothing is done, there could be a new cycle of violence in Rwanda.

"If there is no effective police action, obviously the fear and tension grows among survivor groups," added Des Forges. "There has been some talk of survivors¹⁰ forming self-defense groups to protect themselves, in which case you would see an increase in reprisal¹¹ crimes against Hutus. The other consequence is a continuation or even an increase of killings of survivors, witnesses, and gacaca judges by those people who fear action by gacaca courts."

Attempts to reach relevant authorities in Rwanda were unsuccessful. Rwanda's permanent secretary in the Ministry¹² of the Interior, Joseph Mutaboba, told VOA he was not familiar with Human Rights Watch's report, but that the authorities do provide adequate protection for those participating in the gacaca courts.

1 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

2 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

3 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。

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 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！

6 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

7 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

8 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

9 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。

10 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

11 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

12 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。