2007年VOA标准英语-Senegalese Protesters Clash With Police

By Kari Barber
Dakar
14 April 2007

Hundreds of demonstrators in the restive¹ Casamance region of southern Senegal filled the streets Saturday protesting what they are calling police brutality².  Angry mobs in Kolda burned tires and razed³ houses to the ground in reaction to the death of a man in police custody⁴.  Kari Barber has more from VOA's bureau in Dakar.

Police in Kolda chased protesters through the streets as youth burned buildings and marched on police headquarters.  Protesters say on Friday police tortured to death a man they were interrogating⁵ in a burglary case.

Local journalist Alpha Jallow says the unrest began in the morning and grew throughout the day Saturday.

"Just a few minutes ago from where I am speaking to you, the angry crowd stormed the local radio station here," he said.  "Right now they are marching across the police station and the police are using batons⁶ to chase them, so there are running battles now between the police and the angry crowd."

Jallow says the family of the deceased man is angry at the police and holds them accountable for the death.

He says protesters claim there have been many cases of police brutality in Kolda.

"They say this is police brutality here in Kolda and this is not the first time the police have tortured detainees during interrogations, so they are very angry with the security forces here," he added.

Jallow says two years ago he witnessed a similar demonstration⁷ in Casamance in which the army was accused of torturing to death people it suspected of belonging to a rebel movement.

Rebels in the region have been fighting for autonomy for decades, and tensions have grown in recent months with renewed violence earlier this year.

Protest leader Basirou Kante says demonstrations⁸ will continue until the police are held accountable.

Kante says he is calling on residents of the region to protest any case of police brutality and to not ignore what has happened.

Senegalese army spokesman Colonel Antione Wardini says the man's death is an issue between the people and the police, but the army may be called on to restore calm.

"If it is getting out of hand, they may ask them to intervene to just restore order to keep the guys apart," he said.  "They, the army, have not intervened yet, but they may."

While authorities have confirmed the arrested man died in police custody, they have not released the exact cause of death.

1 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

2 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

3 razed   

v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The village was razed to the ground . 这座村庄被夷为平地。
• Many villages were razed to the ground. 许多村子被夷为平地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 interrogating   

n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• She was no longer interrogating but lecturing. 她已经不是在审问而是在教训人了。 来自辞典例句
• His face remained blank, interrogating, slightly helpless. 他的面部仍然没有表情，只带有询问的意思，还有点无可奈何。 来自辞典例句

6 batons   

n.（警察武器）警棍( baton的名词复数 )；（乐队指挥用的）指挥棒；接力棒

参考例句：

• There were many riot policemen with batons. 有许多带警棍的防暴警察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chinese police fight? Number one is a person with batons to fight! 满街飘的中国国旗，是一个老华侨在事发时那出来分给大家的，很感动，真的，从来一向多一事不如少一事的中国人今天团结到一起站出来反抗。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 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。