VOA标准英语2009年-Burma Releases Several Political Prisoners

By Daniel Schearf
Bangkok
18 September 2009

 
Prisoners listen to briefing as they are released from notorious Insein prison in Rangoon, 18 Sep 2009
Burma's military government has set free several political prisoners as part of an amnesty for more than 7,000 prisoners. But more than 2,000 political prisoners remain in jail and the releases are seen as a public relations move rather than a genuine change in attitude by Burma's military rulers.

Witnesses in Burma say authorities on Friday freed from prison several political prisoners, including journalists and opposition¹ activists².

The releases came a day after Burma's military government announced it would free more than 7,000 prisoners because of their good conduct and on humanitarian³ grounds.

Burma occasionally sets free thousands of prisoners in mass amnesties, often ahead of sensitive dates, but most are petty criminals.

Benjamin Zawacki is a Burma researcher for Amnesty International in Bangkok. He says the military government wants to give the appearance of concessions⁴ to the international community, which has been demanding that Burma release all political prisoners ahead of next year's elections.

"Anything less than the release of all of those prisoners is going to be inadequate," Zawacki said. "And, it's not that we expected that the government would release all 2,200 in one go. But when you look at the pattern, again, every six to 12 months, between say five and 25 political prisoners [are] released. It's really far too little. And, it will prove to be far too late as far as the 2010 elections are concerned."

This latest amnesty coincides with the second anniversary of anti-government protests in 2007 and the 21st anniversary of the coup⁵ that brought the current military rulers to power.

Also on Friday, lawyers for Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi filed an appeal against her latest term of house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi is serving 18 months under house arrest for allowing an uninvited American man who broke into her house to stay there two days without official permission.

Many government critics say Burma's military leaders want to detain her through the elections.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won Burma's last elections in 1990, but Burma's military ignored the results and has kept her locked up for most of the time since.

A ruling on her appeal is expected on October 2. Zawacki says the hearing, like the trial, is "window dressing⁶" and it is unlikely the authorities will release her.

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 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》

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

5 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

6 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。