VOA常速英语2013--Murder Convictions Highlight Roma Discrimination in Europe

 

Murder Convictions Highlight Roma Discrimination in Europe

LONDON — A court in Hungary has jailed three men for life and a fourth for 13 years for a series of killings² targeting the Roma population. Advocacy groups say violence, intimidation³ and discrimination are experienced daily by the Roma — and not just in their historic homelands in Eastern Europe.

The four convicted men were part of a gang that carried out attacks over 13 months in 2008 and 2009, killing¹ six people and leaving Hungary’s Roma population terrified.

In one attack in the village of Tatarszentgyorgy, the gang set fire to a house before opening fire on the occupants. Robert Csorba and his 4-year-old son were killed and a girl seriously wounded.

Robert’s mother Erzsebet Csorba welcomed the court verdict — but said she had no faith that the case would deliver wider justice for the Roma.

"I can't say it's easier now, it's more difficult. It might be harder for us,  because of all the heartache that made us numb⁴ to life," said Csorba.

For Amnesty International's Barbora Cernusakova, Hungary’s criminal justice system is failing the Roma.

“The police don’t really have guidelines on how to deal with hate crimes, and lack general guidelines on how to deal with this specific type of crimes," said Cernusakova. "And also it lacks expertise⁵."

In 2009, human rights groups tried to use the Csorbas funerals to encourage understanding between Roma and other Hungarians.

But four years on little has changed, says Szilvia Varro from the advocacy group Communication Center X.

"Hungarian society is very fragmented and broken into two parts," said Varro. "There are our dead and their dead, there is our memory and your memory, and it's very rare to bridge that division."

Roma have lived in Hungary and its neighboring countries for centuries. Support groups say the fall of communism — and more recently the global financial crisis — hit the Roma disproportionately hard.

Meanwhile, Amnesty's Cernusakova says anti-Roma political parties like Jobbik are on the rise.

 “There were many allegations in the past that Jobbik was actually using Roma and other groups as scapegoats⁶ for the general feeling of discomfort⁷ due to the economic crisis," she said.

Cernusakova says Roma also suffer discrimination in access to education and healthcare.

 “Discrimination cuts throughout their lives and affects them from early childhood pretty much until the end of their lives," she said. "It’s one of the biggest communities in Europe that is discriminated⁸ [against] in this way. It’s also not only a problem of Eastern Europe, especially after the expulsions from France and the eviction⁹ of camps in Italy."

Starting in January 2014, Romanian and Bulgarian citizens — including ethnic¹⁰ Roma — will be permitted free movement within Europe's labor¹¹ market. The European Union has called on member states to do more to integrate Europe's 12-million-strong Roma population.

But advocacy groups say it’s time the EU took punitive¹² measures against countries they accuse of continued discrimination. 

1 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。

2 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。

3 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

4 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

5 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

6 scapegoats   

n.代人受过的人，替罪羊( scapegoat的名词复数 )v.使成为替罪羊( scapegoat的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They were made the scapegoats for the misfire of the program. 他们成了那个计划失败的替罪羊。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Only some of the guards and a minor hotel employee, chosen as scapegoats, were imprisoned. 只有一些保镖和那个旅馆的小职员当了替罪羊，被关进了监狱。 来自辞典例句

7 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

8 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

9 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

10 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

11 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。

12 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。