联合国批评波斯尼亚塞族拒绝接受1995年大屠杀报告

UN Rights Chief Criticizes Bosnian Serb Rejection¹ of Report on 1995 Massacre²

The parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s self-governing Serb Republic has voted to reject a 2004 report on the Srebrenica massacre.

The United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein has publicly criticized the decision. He said it will likely harm efforts to improve relations between Serbians in Bosnia and Muslim Bosnians, or Bosniaks.

The two groups fought a war against each other that lasted from 1992 to 1995. The war divided the country into two ethnically-based regions, the Serb Republic and the Bosniak-Croat Federation³.

Relations between the two regions have been tense since the war ended. This tension has created barriers to Bosnia and Herzegovina joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.

Ravina Shamdasani is a representative for the U.N. human rights office. On Friday she announced the chief’s warning that rejecting the Srebrenica report would only create greater division in the country ahead of its general election in October.

The report describes the events in the weeks after the Bosnian Serbs captured the formerly⁴ U.N.-protected town of Srebrenica in July 1995. The report found that the Serbs killed as many as 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks during that time.

Two war crimes courts, The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice, ruled that the killings⁶ qualified⁷ as genocide. But Serbs in Bosnia and neighboring Serbia reject the rulings.

The Serb Republic’s parliament had accepted the findings after the report was released in 2004. But members of the governing body voted to revoke⁸ that earlier decision on Tuesday. An official rejection of the report is expected in the coming days.

Serb Republic President Milorad Dodik helped start the move in parliament to reject the report. Some experts say it is the latest issue Serb ruling parties have used to gain support among voters before elections on October 7.

Ravina Shamdasani said that Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein is asking the Serb Republic to reconsider its decision.

“The High Commissioner⁹ fears that tensions, divisions and mistrust already perpetuated¹⁰ by some public and political officials and media organizations in Bosnia could be aggravated¹¹ by this decision,” she said.

On Wednesday, the United States Department of State called the vote “a step in the wrong direction.”

I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

massacre – n. the violent killing⁵ of many people

region(s) – n. a part of a country or of the world that is different or separate from other parts in some way

qualified as – v. had all the necessary qualities to be thought of or described in a particular way

revoke – v. to officially cancel the power or effect of something

perpetuate(d) – v. to cause something that should be stopped, such as a mistaken idea or a bad situation, to continue

aggravate(d) – v. to make an injury or problem more serious or severe

1 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

2 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！

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

5 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。

6 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。

7 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

8 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

9 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

10 perpetuated   

vt.使永存（perpetuate的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• This system perpetuated itself for several centuries. 这一制度维持了几个世纪。
• I never before saw smile caught like that, and perpetuated. 我从来没有看见过谁的笑容陷入这样的窘况，而且持续不变。 来自辞典例句

11 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。