voa标准英语2013--Sri Lanka Denies Accusations of Abusing Tamils

 

Sri Lanka Denies Accusations¹ of Abusing Tamils

The group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka says the photos show Balachandran Prabhakaran, the son of the late Tamil Tiger rebel leader, in the custody² of government soldiers in May 2009.

Another photo, which the journalists say was taken two hours later, appears to show the same 12-year-old boy lying dead on the ground with five bullet wounds in his chest.

The photos, and additional video footage, appear to contradict government accounts that the boy was killed in crossfire³, says the head of Amnesty International India, G. Ananthapadmanabhan.

“We think they are credible⁴ evidence that needs investigation⁵, but we cannot exactly say at this point what exactly happened," said Ananthapadmanabhan. "But having said that, even the thought that a 12-year-old boy could be executed in that fashion is quite horrifying⁶."

The alleged⁷ killing⁸ happened during fierce fighting as the civil war between the government and armed Tamil separatists known as the LTTE, was coming to an end.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner⁹ to India Prasad Kariyawasam doubts the veracity¹⁰ of the pictures.

"This footage for us is kind of morphed in a way that this series of photographs doesn't add up, so we totally reject this," said Kariyawasam. "We have no doubt that Prabhakaran's son died, but he was a victim of that battle at that time."

The group Human Rights Watch says abuses against Tamils took place long after the civil war - in many cases to extract information or to force confessions¹¹. Video footage taken by the group shows victims with scars across their backs. One of them, given the name "DK," says he was tortured in 2012.

“They beat me severely¹². They burned cigarettes on my back. I was sexually abused. They hanged me upside down and beat me. My body was full of bruises¹³. They submerged my head in water," he said.

David Mepham is UK Director of Human Rights Watch.

“We’ve got 75 cases where we are very clear that the evidence is compelling and that these people were subject to rape¹⁴ and sexual violence," said Mepham. "And overwhelmingly this is violence carried out by members of the Sri Lankan security forces.”

Sri Lanka says the allegations are fabricated by Tamils seeking asylum¹⁵ overseas.

For the second year in a row, the United States is sponsoring a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling on Sri Lanka to cease what it calls rights abuses.

Sri Lanka's presidential envoy¹⁶ on human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, claims the U.N. council is biased¹⁷.

“We have put in place structures for discussion and implementation¹⁸ of solutions," said Samarasinghe. "However, we are being told that our chosen path is perhaps the wrong one. It is supposedly deficient¹⁹. We must be lectured to or even taught. We must be instructed by people who know little of our history, culture or socio-political background."

Sri Lanka is due to host the Commonwealth²⁰ summit in November this year. Canada has threatened to boycott²¹ the meeting unless Colombo addresses the allegations of atrocities²². 

1 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

2 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。

3 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

4 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 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。

10 veracity   

n.诚实

参考例句：

• I can testify to this man's veracity and good character.我可以作证，此人诚实可靠品德良好。
• There is no reason to doubt the veracity of the evidence.没有理由怀疑证据的真实性。

11 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

13 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

15 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

16 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

17 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

18 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

19 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

20 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

21 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

22 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》