经济学人:内战之殇 斯里兰卡的人口失踪(1)

 　　Asia 亚洲

　　Sri Lanka's Disappeared: No closure 斯里兰卡的失踪人员：尚未终结

　　The wounds of Civil War remain raw. 内战之殇仍在作痛。

　　“I Still believe he's alive,” says Tharsini Santhirabose with a glazed¹, fixed² smile. Tharsini Santhirabose目光呆滞、僵硬地笑着说，“我一直相信他还活着”。

　　She last saw her husband, a fellow guerrilla for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in the final days of the civil war that ended with the Tigers' obliteration³ in 2009. 她的丈夫是泰米尔伊拉姆猛虎解放组织的一名游击队员，她最后一次见到他的丈夫是在在内战结束前夕，但战争最后是以2009年猛虎组织的彻底失败而告终。

　　Up to 40,000 civilians⁴ were killed, according to the UN, along with most of the remnants of the 10,000-strong separatist army and perhaps 5,000 hangers-on. 根据联合国的统计，多达四万平民死于这场战争中，猛虎组织中拥有一万兵力的分裂之一军队可能只剩下5000名残兵了。

　　The chances that Ms Santhirabose's husband will reappear are virtually nil⁵. 所以Santhirabose女士的丈夫生还的可能性是微乎其微。

　　No one knows precisely⁶ how many died or disappeared in the war. 没有人准确地知道有多少人在战争中死亡或失踪。

　　A fervently⁷ Tamil-nationalist Catholic bishop⁸ claims that, after the 26 years of fighting, 147,000 people, civilians and fighters, remain unaccounted for. 一位狂热极端的泰米尔民族主义叛军声称，在他们与政府军长达26年的战争后，有十四万七千人死亡或失踪，这其中包括平民和士兵。

　　The foreign ministry⁹ says that more than 65,000 queries¹⁰ about missing people have been received since 1994. 外交部表示自1994年起，他们已经收到了超过六万五千条询问失踪人口的信件。

　　A few thousand former Tiger “cadres”, as they are known, have re-emerged from government “rehabilitation” camps. 据称，几千名前猛虎组织的“核心骨干”重新出现在政府改造营中。

　　Many Tamils believe that secret detention¹¹ camps still exist. 许多泰米尔人认为这里存在着一个秘密关押营。

　　Others claim, bizarrely, that the government has sent thousands of defeated fighters to undisclosed destinations abroad. 其他人绝望的声称，政府把这些数以千计的战败的猛虎组织成员送往到不明的国外某处。

　　Many also say that the Sri Lankan army's reluctance¹² to give back land now used as army bases is because they do not want mass graves to be discovered. 也有人说斯里兰卡的军队不想归还用于军事基地的土地，是因为他们不像让人发现军事基地里的集中埋葬的坟地。

1 glazed   

adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神

参考例句：

• eyes glazed with boredom 厌倦无神的眼睛
• His eyes glazed over at the sight of her. 看到她时，他的目光就变得呆滞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 obliteration   

n.涂去，删除；管腔闭合

参考例句：

• The policy is obliteration, openly acknowledged. 政策是彻底毁灭，公开承认的政策。 来自演讲部分
• "Obliteration is not a justifiable act of war" “彻底消灭并不是有理的战争行为” 来自演讲部分

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 nil   

n.无，全无，零

参考例句：

• My knowledge of the subject is practically nil.我在这方面的知识几乎等于零。
• Their legal rights are virtually nil.他们实际上毫无法律权利。

6 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

7 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

8 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 queries   

n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问

参考例句：

• Our assistants will be happy to answer your queries. 我们的助理很乐意回答诸位的问题。
• Her queries were rhetorical,and best ignored. 她的质问只不过是说说而已，最好不予理睬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

12 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。