VOA标准英语2009-Western Sahara Activist Sent Back to Canary

By Scott Stearns
Dakar
17 November 2009

 
Aminatou Haidar talks about Western Sahara during an interview with AP in Washington (2006 file photo)
Human rights officials say Morocco has expelled one of the leading independence campaigners for the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Morocco's Foreign Ministry¹ says the activist² voluntarily renounced³ her Moroccan citizenship⁴.

Aminatou Haidar returned to Morocco last week from a trip abroad that included her winning the 2009 Civil Courage Prize in New York.

Moroccan authorities say she refused to comply with "normal airport formalities" and, in the presence of family members and a public prosecutor⁵, signed a statement voluntarily giving up her Moroccan citizenship.

Jim Loughran heads communications for the Front Line group which campaigns to protect human rights defenders⁶. He says that is a rather disingenuous⁷ explanation of what happened.

"She arrived, and they asked her to fill-in a registration⁸ form in which she was asked to put down 'citizenship.' Because she travels on a Moroccan passport, they insisted that she would acknowledge her citizenship as Moroccan, which she refused to do because she felt that was recognition of Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara," he said.

Haidar won the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and heads the Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders as one of the foremost campaigners for self-determination in the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

 
The coastal⁹ region between Morocco, Mauritania, and Algeria was claimed by Morocco shortly after the end of Spanish colonialism in 1975. But ethnic¹⁰ Saharawi in the POLISARIO movement fought for independence. A 1991 ceasefire ended the war but has not resolved Western Sahara's status.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Fassi Fihri told the state-run news agency that Haidar was recruited by Algeria to threaten Morocco's territorial¹¹ integrity under what he calls "the false pretext¹² of defending human rights" by taking advantage of "the consolidation¹³ of freedoms in Morocco."

The foreign minister says this "negative strategy and propaganda only aims at fueling tension" to counteract¹⁴ what he said is "significant headway" in resolving the issue through United Nations mediation¹⁵.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed the Obama administration's support for mediation during talks with Foreign Minister Fihri last month, allaying¹⁶ Moroccan concerns that the new government in Washington might be more sympathetic to a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.

Morocco is offering limited self rule. POLISARIO is holding out for a referendum that includes complete independence as one of the options.

Front Line's Jim Loughran says Haidar's expulsion follows a month-long crackdown on Western Sahara campaigners.

 
A Saharawi refugee heads to a ceremony in Laayoune refugee camp near the Saharawi border with Algeria (File)
Seven Moroccan human rights activists¹⁷ are facing charges of high treason before a military tribunal for visiting POLISARIO refugee camps in Algeria. Morocco expelled a Swedish diplomat¹⁸ for giving POLISARIO a government document about Western Sahara.

Loughran says Haidar's case is clearly meant to send a message to other human rights campaigners.

"Aminatou Haidar is a public figure. She is well known. And to a certain extent, she is protected by that reputation," he said. "But the ordinary campaigners, the ordinary Saharawi people, the young people in the streets, they are not protected by the international media. So it is a clever way of sending out a strong message," he said.

Haidar was sent back to the Spanish-ruled Canary Islands without her Moroccan passport so she has not left the airport and is now on a hunger strike.

1 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。

2 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。

3 renounced   

v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• We have renounced the use of force to settle our disputes. 我们已再次宣布放弃使用武力来解决争端。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Andrew renounced his claim to the property. 安德鲁放弃了财产的所有权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 disingenuous   

adj.不诚恳的，虚伪的

参考例句：

• It is disingenuous of him to flatter me.他对我阿谀奉承，是居心叵测。
• His brother Shura with staring disingenuous eyes was plotting to master the world.他那长着一对狡诈眼睛的哥哥瑞拉，处心积虑图谋征服整个世界。

8 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？

9 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

10 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。

11 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

12 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

13 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

14 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

15 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

16 allaying   

v.减轻，缓和( allay的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Most important, improving the government's reputation means allaying political and human-rights concerns. 最重要的在于提高政府的声誉，这意味着需要缓和政治策略和关注人权间的矛盾。 来自互联网
• More reading may be allaying your doubt. 多读书或许可以减少你的疑惑。 来自互联网

17 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》

18 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。