VOA标准英语2014--HRW Reports Massacres in CAR 人权观察报道中非大屠杀

 

HRW Reports Massacres² in CAR 人权观察报道中非大屠杀

The group Human Rights Watch reports it has uncovered evidence of massacres in remote villages in Central African Republic. It accuses both anti-balaka militias³ and Seleka fighters for the attacks. The armed groups have been waging inter-communal violence since December.

Human Rights Watch Emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert said it took time to learn the details of the attacks.

“The southwest of the Central African Republic is a very remote area. It actually took us days just to reach the area where these massacres have taken place. We had heard rumors⁴ of large-scale killings⁵ in the southwest for weeks now, but we finally managed to get there and to get direct eyewitness⁶ testimonies⁷ about what’s been happening in that part of the country,” he said.

Two attacks occurred on the village of Guen. The first attack came on February 1st and the next, four days later. Human Rights Watch said anti-balaka militias killed 72 Muslim men and boys, some as young as nine. Eyewitnesses⁸ said the victims were shot or hacked⁹ with machetes, or both.

HRW researcher Lewis Mudge said, “There seems to be a general strategy on the part of the anti-balaka to target men and males. And they do not make a difference between boys and men. They don’t see a young man at the age of 12 or 13 as being any different from a man in his 30s. So, they are certainly targeting any male that they can get their hands on except for the very young. We do see them sparing young boys, five, six, seven years old.”

Mudge said that while anti-balaka groups around the capital Bangui appear to have some organization, it’s not the case with those in southwestern CAR.

“These anti-balaka groups really are just criminal gangs, bands of thugs. The town of Carnot, which is a major diamond producing area, has at least 12 anti-balaka groups that have staked-out territories. Down in Berberati it’s very, very difficult to know who actually is controlling the anti-balaka. They seem to exist more for profit and to harass¹⁰ people and try to get money,” he said.

Human Rights Watch reported another massacre¹ occurred February 19th in the village of Yakongo. It’s about 30 kilometers from Guen. This time the attack is blamed on the mostly Muslim Seleka fighters and Peuhl cattle herders. Nineteen people were killed in Yakongo, along with two anti-balaka fighters. Eyewitnesses said one of the victims was a

two-year-old child, who died in his mother’s arms after being shot.

Mudge said that most of the Seleka left southwest CAR in late January and early February and moved east. Those remaining have joined with the Peuhl, who are moving cattle from CAR to Cameroon

“It seems that they’re attacking villages out of both revenge and also to replenish¹¹ lost food supplies. Because in every attack we are noting that they focus on stealing the manioc and the peanut stocks,” said Mudge.

Both Yakongo and Guen are located on a main road linking the towns of Boda and Carnot, where thousands of Muslims have taken shelter from anti-balaka attacks.

Anti-balaka militias arose last December in response to Seleka attacks against Christian¹² and traditional religion communities. Earlier in 2013, the former rebels forced President Francois Bozize from power. There has been no effective government since then despite two interim¹³ presidents, including Michel Djotodia, the former Seleka leader. Anti-balaka fighters appear to have the upper hand in much of the country.

Human Rights Watch’s Bouckaert said it appears the conflict is nearing the end stage in many parts of western CAR.

“These really are the last remaining Muslim communities from a population of hundreds of thousands, who used to live in these areas. The vast majority of the Muslims have now fled to neighboring Chad or Cameroon.”

U.N. agencies are looking for safe locations in the north of the country to relocate Muslims from Bangui, Boda, Carnot, Berberati and Bossangoa. They have some protection there from French and African forces, but Bouckaert said Muslims in remote areas do not.

“They continue to be attacked, but they also are in a horrific humanitarian¹⁴ condition. In some of the places we visited we actually found people starving to death because they were unable to access food,” he said.

He said that a much bigger international military presence is needed in CAR. Current peacekeepers are too few in an area that’s too big.

 

“They are very limited in number. There are only 6,000 African peacekeepers and about 2,000 French troops on the ground in a country which is larger than France. But we are concerned

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 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

3 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

4 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

7 testimonies   

（法庭上证人的）证词( testimony的名词复数 )； 证明，证据

参考例句：

• Davie poured forth his eloquence upon the controversies and testimonies of the day. 戴维向他滔滔不绝地谈那些当时有争论的问题和上帝的箴言。
• Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. 22求你除掉我所受的羞辱和藐视，因我遵守你的法度。

8 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

9 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

10 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

11 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

14 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。