2007年VOA标准英语-Mauritania Makes Slavery a Criminal Offense

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
09 August 2007

Mauritania's legislature has approved a law that will criminalize slavery.  Anti-slavery lobbyists say enforcement will determine if this law can end slavery in the West African country where it has continued despite earlier bans.  Phuong Tran has more from VOA's West Africa Bureau in Dakar.

President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellahi

Ending slavery was one of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellahi's campaign promises.
 
The newly-elected president told VOA this law has a better chance to end slavery than previous attempts. 

The president says the government will be vigilant¹ in enforcing the law, which for the first time, punishes acts of slavery with jail time and fines.  He adds it is now illegal for officials who know about an act of slavery to not intervene.

Secretary and co-founder of the Mauritanian non-profit, anti-slavery group SOS Esclaves, Abdel Nasser Ould Yessa, says he is relieved the long legal battle against slavery is over.

Abdel Nasser Ould Yessa

He says this law is specific in describing what constitutes slavery, such as debt bondage² and forced marriage.  He says the law reverses denials under previous governments about the existence of slavery in Mauritania.

The lobbyist adds the state needs to set up programs to provide employment help and social services to former slaves.

He says there are often cases when victims leave slave-like relationships, but then must return, because they cannot find work or afford health care on their own.

Slavery has not been permitted legally in Mauritania since French colonizers abolished the practice, which had existed before colonialism.  A previous government passed numerous laws starting in 1981 to reinforce the colonial ban on slavery.

Sociologists and religious scholars say slave-like practices continued, in part, because some mistakenly believe the Koran allows it.

But Mauritanian religious leaders, widely respected in the Islamic state and looked to for guidance on public behaviors, have not formally endorsed³ any legislation to end slavery.

1 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

2 bondage   

n.奴役，束缚

参考例句：

• Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。

3 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》