2006年VOA标准英语-Kurdish Filmmaker Documents Anfal Atrocities

By Brian Padden
Irbil, Iraq
19 September 2006
 
watch Kurdish Filmmaker report

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is on trial for genocide. He is accused of ordering the Anfal campaign -- a military operation against Iraqi Kurds two decades ago.  Prosecutors¹ say 180,000 Kurds were killed and thousands of villages wiped out.  Kurdish-American filmmaker Jano Rosebiani has tried to convey the magnitude of the devastation² in a series of documentary films, with victims and survivors³ telling their own stories.  VOA's Brian Padden reports from the northern city of Irbil, in the heart of the Kurdish region.

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A Kurdish mother grieves over the loss of family members 
  
A Kurdish mother shows her anguish⁴ as she recalls how her husband and eight children were killed during the Iraqi Anfal campaign. It is one of many emotional interviews in Jano Rosebiani's documentary, called "Mass Graves." 

Rosebiani is a Kurdish-American filmmaker. He says he made "Mass Graves" to bring to light the atrocities⁵ that occurred during the rule of Saddam Hussein.

 

 
Kurdish-American filmmaker Jano Rosebiani 
  
"I felt like no one was actually doing any films or documentaries in detail," he says, "nothing deep enough to really get the viewer outside of the region to really understand the tragedy that took place here, or the extent of it, the fact that we can actually call it genocide."

Rosebiani produced three documentaries, "Mass Graves," "Chemical Ali" and "Weapon Of Mass Destruction" with financial support from the U.S. government.  

All three films use eyewitness⁶ accounts to detail atrocities allegedly committed by Saddam Hussein's regime. People tell of seeing their loved ones tortured and killed in front of them, of being forced to flee their homes, of surviving chemical attacks and of the sense of isolation⁷. 

 
An eyewitness to horror
  
One man said he was able to escape to a Turkish refugee camp, but officials there refused to acknowledge that he was a victim of a chemical attack.

"We would tell the Turks about the chemicals," said the former refugee. "They would tell us to shut our mouths.  They would say, 'You have been burned by fire.' "

Rosebiani was also given access to video shot by the Iraqi military, documenting torture and killings⁸. Rosebiani says the films are hard to watch.

"It was really a nightmare to go through it.  I would look at my (the) babies, and start thinking of the stories they were telling me about, what was happening to their babies. You know, sometimes I feel like I would go mad."

Now that Saddam Hussein and six of his former military commanders are on trial for genocide against the Kurds, there is a sense of satisfaction for Rosebiani. He says his films set the stage for the current trial by making the case against Saddam in the court of world opinion. 

1 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

2 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

5 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

7 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

8 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。