VOA慢速英语2021--俄罗斯下令关闭人权组织

Russia Orders Human Rights Group to Close

The Russian Supreme¹ court ruled Tuesday to close down a human rights organization. The group, called Memorial International, recorded historical abuses of the former Soviet² Union. It also identified victims of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's purges⁴.

The human rights group has long been criticized by Russian officials. It was found guilty of breaking a law that requires nongovernmental organizations to register as foreign agents if they receive foreign donations.

Kremlin critics said the organization was targeted for political reasons.

Memorial International's partner organization, the Memorial Human Rights Center, campaigns on behalf of political prisoners in modern-day Russia. It is also under legal threat. Officials in Moscow Wednesday called for its closure on claims it has been spreading terrorism and extremism in its publications.

"The persecution⁵ of International Memorial and Memorial Human Rights Center is an affront⁶ to their noble missions and to the cause of human rights everywhere," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement late Tuesday.

In a group statement, the German branch of Amnesty International, the Heinrich Boll Foundation, and the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation denounced the ruling. They said the Russian government "wants to monopolize⁷ individual and collective memory."

Discovering crimes

Memorial International was co-founded by famous Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov in 1987, four years before the fall of the Soviet Union. The group's historians located execution sites and mass graves of Stalin's "Great Terror," when hundreds of thousands of Russians were killed. Memorial International tried to identify as many victims as possible.

Several historians associated with Memorial International have been imprisoned⁸ in recent years. Gulag historian Yury Dmitriyev this week was sentenced to 15 years in a prison for child abuse. But historians say the charge against Dmitriyev was trumped-up and that he was charged to silence him. Two other Gulag historians have also been jailed on sex-related charges.

Historical memory

Kremlin officials have accused Memorial International of misrepresenting history.

Alexei Zhafyarov is Russia's state prosecutor⁹. Before Tuesday's ruling he said: "It is obvious that Memorial creates a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state." He also claimed the group's list of victims included "Nazi¹⁰ offenders¹¹ with blood of Soviet citizens on their hands."

Stalin's image has been slowly repaired since Vladimir Putin came to power in the late 1990s. Memorial historians say they are in a battle over history and the honest recording¹² of the communist past.

Historian Anatoly Razumov told VOA that officials under Putin see memorializing history as unpatriotic. "The very act of remembrance is frowned on," he said.

Razumov said researching the Great Terror has always been difficult, even during the more liberal years of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. He said the period of historical discovery ended in 1997, when Yeltsin declared it as the Year of Reconciliation¹³.

"After 1997, the topic was meant to go quiet. As far as the authorities were concerned, the topic was finished," Razumov said.

Last year, Putin labeled those who disagree with the Kremlin's version of history as Western "collaborators." And the Investigative Committee of Russia has established a department to investigate "falsifications of history."

Mary Lawlor is the United Nations Special Rapporteur. She warned last month that the closing of Memorial would be "a new low for human rights defenders¹⁶ in Russia." She said the organization's recording of human rights abuses "has for many years made them the target of a government that is ever diminishing the space for public debate."

Words in This Story

purge³ — v. to remove people from an area, country, organization, etc., often in a violent and sudden way

affront — n. an action or statement that insults or offends someone

noble — adj. having, showing, or coming from personal qualities that people admire

monopolize — v. to take over and control

gulag — n. a system of labor¹⁵ camps maintained in the Soviet Union from 1930 to 1955 in which many people died.

trumped-up — adj. deliberately¹⁷ done or created to make someone appear to be guilty of a crime

reconciliation — n. the act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or disagreement

collaborator¹⁴ — n. a person who works with another person or group in order to achieve or do something

diminish — v. to become or to cause to become less in size, importance, etc.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

4 purges   

清除异己( purge的名词复数 )； 整肃（行动）； 清洗； 泻药

参考例句：

• Mandelshtam perished in the purges of the 1930s, Akhmatova remained silent. 曼杰利什坦姆在30年代的清洗中死去，阿赫玛托娃也销声匿迹。
• He purges his subconscious and meditates only on God. 他净化他的潜意识且只思念上帝。

5 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

6 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

7 monopolize   

v.垄断，独占，专营

参考例句：

• She tried to monopolize his time.她想独占他的时间。
• They are controlling so much cocoa that they are virtually monopolizing the market.他们控制了大量的可可粉，因此他们几乎垄断了整个市场。

8 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

9 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。

10 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

11 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

13 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

14 collaborator   

n.合作者，协作者

参考例句：

• I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作，帮我的忙。
• His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

16 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》

17 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。