2007年VOA标准英语-Human Rights Groups Decry Kenyan Suspect's Kill

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
21 February 2007

Human rights groups are blasting Kenyan police for killing¹ one of Kenya's most wanted criminals, saying that the suspect should have been taken into custody² and tried rather than shot. As Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi, there are conflicting reports of whether or not the suspect was armed when he was killed.

Simon Matheri, described by police as "public enemy number one," was accused of killing more than 10 people, most recently two American missionaries³ and a prominent Kenyan AIDS scientist during carjackings.

Police killed Matheri in the early hours of Tuesday after surrounding his home in a town near the capital.

The chief counsel of the public interest group The Chambers⁴ of Justice, Ababu Namwamba, tells VOA the police's action violated the rule of law.

He said, "If we are a society that is anchored on the rule of law, and where justice is a fundamental public philosophy, then we must seek to apprehend⁵ criminals and arraign⁶ them in courts of law instead of resorting to summary executions like we have been witnessing in the recent past."

Namwamba says the law allows for police to disarm⁷ suspects with guns by shooting them in the arm or leg rather than outright⁸ killing them.

Police spokesman Gideon Kibunjah tells VOA that, in general, the police try not to kill suspected criminals.

"Our aim is to shoot to disable," he said. "But when somebody's shooting at you, there is really not much time to decide how you are going to aim for the legs or something else."

"It is a matter of life and death, and we have lost quite a number of officers to gangsters⁹, so sometimes we really cannot take chances with them. If somebody wants to fight, then they should be prepared for the consequences of that," he added.

There are conflicting reports of how 30-year-old Matheri died.

Police spokesman Kibunjah says Matheri was holding an AK-47 assault rifle when he stepped out of his house, but would not say if Matheri attempted to shoot police with the gun.

But Matheri's wife was quoted as saying her husband walked out of their house, unarmed, holding his hands on his head. She said police interrogated¹⁰ her husband and another accomplice¹¹ for about 30 minutes before shooting them.

Kenya's police have repeatedly been criticized for shooting first and asking questions later.

A study conducted last year by former chief government pathologist Kirasi Olumbe found that, over a seven-year period, 70 percent of gunshot deaths were a result of police bullets. The study did not say if the gunshot victims were criminals.

As the public becomes more worried about what appears to be an increase in violent crime, police have become more trigger-happy.

According to a report last month in one of Kenya's daily newspapers, victims of police shootings have increased from about 40 to 60 each month. On one day last month, police killed 13 people suspected of committing various crimes.

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 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

5 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

6 arraign   

v.提讯；控告

参考例句：

• She was arraigned today on charges of assault and kidnapping.她今天因被控人身侵犯和绑架而受到提审。
• He was arraigned for criminally abetting a traitor.他因怂恿他人叛国而受到传讯。

7 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

8 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

9 gangsters   

匪徒，歹徒( gangster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings. 歹徒提出要给他一笔相当于他一年收入的钱。
• One of the gangsters was caught by the police. 歹徒之一被警察逮捕。

10 interrogated   

v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• He was interrogated by the police for over 12 hours. 他被警察审问了12个多小时。
• Two suspects are now being interrogated in connection with the killing. 与杀人案有关的两名嫌疑犯正在接受审讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。