VOA标准英语2010年-Zimbabwe Detainees Going Hungry

Police in Zimbabwe are warning they do not have enough money to feed people in holding cells around the country.  The whole justice system in Zimbabwe is threatened by lack of adequate resources.

Although fewer people are being arrested now than in previous years, the police say they do not have enough money to feed those held in custody¹ at police stations.

Senior Assistant Commissioner² Wayne Bvudzijena said if arrested people are not given food by relatives or from sympathetic policemen paying for food out of their own pockets, detainees are going hungry.  He said policemen, like many other civil servants, are only earning about $150 a month.

Bvudzijena said the worst affected³ among those people arrested and held in rural police districts.  He said some charitable organizations helped feed suspects in urban areas like Harare, but it is never enough.

The assistant commissioner said the police force received less than 10 percent of the funds it requested in the last budget.  He said many police vehicles no longer work and the police infrastructure⁴ is disintegrating⁵ fast.

Insiders in the Department of Justice say it is also affected with a shortage of prosecutors⁶, magistrates⁸, and other staff servicing the courts.  This is leading to longer stays in jail for prisoners awaiting trial.

Former Commercial Farmers Union president Trevor Gifford and a colleague were supposed to appear in court Friday in the eastern city Mutare.  But there was no staff to process them and they were held in custody over the weekend.

They were arrested on contempt of court charges because, their lawyers say, they tried to deliver a High Court order to a presiding magistrate⁷.

Other Zimbabwe government ministries⁹ are also short of cash.  Education minister David Coltart said Sunday his allocation is $1 per child at school per month.  He said this is a shocking statistic¹⁰ affecting three million school children.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti is raising about $90 million a month to run Zimbabwe and there are few indications revenue is going to increase.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 disintegrating   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• As a poetic version of a disintegrating world, this one pleased him. 作为世界崩溃论在文学上的表现，他非常喜欢这个学说。 来自辞典例句
• Soil animals increase the speed of litter breakdown by disintegrating tissue. 土壤动物通过分解组织，加速落叶层降解的速度。 来自辞典例句

6 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

7 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

8 magistrates   

地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to come up before the magistrates 在地方法院出庭
• He was summoned to appear before the magistrates. 他被传唤在地方法院出庭。

9 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

10 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。