2007年VOA标准英语-Russian Rights Activists Decry Disappearances o

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
15 June 2007

Russian human rights activists² say about 20 young people have disappeared since April in Dagestan, a troubled region of the Caucasus in southern Russia. VOA correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports from Moscow that mothers who have lost sons are facing an uphill battle trying to learn their fate.

Gulnara Rustamova

Speaking at a joint³ news conference in Moscow Friday, the mothers of two apparent kidnap victims say they do not know who took their sons or why. However, they claim young people are being ransomed⁵ and the price depends on whether they are dead or alive.

Gulnara Rustanova has been searching in vain for her kidnapped son. Rustamova says the dead body of a kidnap victim costs $20,000.

She says Russian authorities refer to the victims as "rebel fighters." If you're lucky, she says, ransom⁴ for a live individual costs $150,000. The photo of a dead body runs 10,000 rubles, or about $400.

Another mother, Svetlana Isayeva, also said authorities have kidnapped young men under the pretext⁶ of being radicals⁷, either rebels or Wahhabi Muslims.

She says her son, Isa, was neither, but rather an invalid⁸ and an ordinary Muslim, though she herself is an atheist⁹. The dilemma¹⁰ Svetlana Isayeva and other mothers face is that the authorities that they are forced to turn to may be behind the kidnappings.

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Lyudmilla Alexeyeva

Veteran Russian human rights activist Lyudmilla Alexeyeva, a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group, acknowledges the dilemma.

Alexeyeva says people know how difficult it is to get any information from authorities, let alone punishing those responsible if you're dealing¹¹ with law enforcement officials. As Alexeyeva puts it, these things take years.

The recent disappearances¹² come amid claims of increased Islamic activity in Dagestan. Last year, local police accused Islamic insurgents¹³ of killing¹⁴ a prosecutor¹⁵ and ambushing¹⁶ the region's interior minister.

On Friday, Fareed Babayev, the head of the Dagestan branch of Russia's independent Yabloko Party, said the interior minister could be behind the recent violence as a way of making himself useful, by creating a problem, then offering to solve it.

Russian officials were not immediately available to comment on the allegations.

What is certain is that young people are disappearing and dying in Dagestan and their mothers want to know why.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

5 ransomed   

付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His wife ransomed him at a heavy price. 他妻子花了大价钱才把他赎了出来。
• Surely, surely, we have ransomed one another, with all this woe! 确确实实，我们已经用这一切悲苦彼此赎救了！ 来自英汉文学 - 红字

6 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

7 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

8 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

9 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

10 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

13 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

14 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。

15 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

16 ambushing   

v.埋伏( ambush的现在分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The militia succeeded in ambushing the invading enemy soldiers. 民兵们成功地伏击了入侵的敌军。 来自互联网