2007年VOA标准英语-Key Srebrenica Massacre Suspect Transferred To

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
01 June 2007

The relatives of victims of Europe's worst massacre¹ since World War II have welcomed the arrest of a key suspect in the atrocity². Bosnian Serb General Zdravko Tolimir was detained Thursday and flown to the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague on charges related to the killings³ of up to 8,000 Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Stefan Bos reports for VOA from Budapest.

Under tight security, Bosnian Serb General Zdravko Tolimir left Bosnia Herzegovina for the Netherlands-based UN Tribunal to face charges of genocide.

Tolimir, 58, was a senior aide to the Bosnian Serbs' wartime military commander General Ratko Mladic when the 1995 slaughter⁴ took place.

 

The slaughter is marked by the United Nations as one of the worse cases of "ethnic⁵ cleansing⁶" during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Bosnian and Serbian security forces arrested Tolimir late Thursday as he tried to enter Serbia from Bosnia. He was later handed over to U.N, authorities in Banja Luka.

 

Tolimir was considered the third most wanted war crimes suspect in the Balkans after General Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb Army chief, and Radovan Karadzic, former Bosnian Serb President

In comments aired on Reuters television and other networks, relatives of those who died reacted with mixed emotions to the news of his arrest.

 

"This is good news for the victims, but it should have happened 12 years ago," said Munira Subasic, a representative of the Association of Women from Srebrenica.

"I hope that [Radovan] Karadzic and [Ratko] Mladic will come out from their hideouts as well to face justice," added Kada Horic, who survived the Srebrenica massacre.

Olga Kavran, the spokeswoman of the United Nations Chief Prosecutor⁷ Carla Del Ponte, shares that view. Kavran told reporters she hopes that Serbia will step up efforts to extradite war crimes suspects.

 

"There are still five remaining [top] fugitives⁸, most of whom we believe to be within reach of Serbia," she said.  "Serbia is in violation⁹ of many international obligations by not delivering namely Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadzic and the other fugitives, and that does not change."

 

U.N. officials hope that Tolimir could provide key information about Mladic and Karadzic. Tolimir is thought by experts to have helped commander Mladic evade¹⁰ arrest since his indictment¹¹ for war crimes in 1995.

The European Union has urged Serbia to transfer more war crimes suspects. EU Enlargement Commissioner¹², Olli Rehn, made clear Friday that the arrest of Tolimir would pave the way to resume stalled talks with the Serbian government about establishing closer ties.

1 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！

2 atrocity   

n.残暴，暴行

参考例句：

• These people are guilty of acts of great atrocity.这些人犯有令人发指的暴行。
• I am shocked by the atrocity of this man's crimes.这个人行凶手段残忍狠毒使我震惊。

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 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

5 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。

6 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

7 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。

8 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

9 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。

10 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

11 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

12 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。