2007年VOA标准英语-Ethiopia Detains Oromo Opposition Members

By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
06 September 2007

The Ethiopian government has confirmed the detention¹ of scores of citizens suspected of involvement in a regional insurgent² movement. From the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, VOA's Peter Heinlein reports opposition³ lawmakers and human rights activists⁴ are calling the detentions⁵ illegal.

A senior Ethiopian government official confirmed to VOA that an unspecified number of persons described as 'operatives of the Oromo Liberation Front' have been detained by authorities in recent weeks.

Bereket Simon, a top adviser⁶ to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, said "the government has an obligation to put these people under control."

The official's comments were in response to charges by a prominent Member of Parliament from the Oromia region that at least 107 people, and probably many more, are being held illegally by authorities without charge.

Bulcha Demeksa, a lawmaker from the opposition Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement party, said some of the detainees have been held for weeks.

The Oromo people are Ethiopia's largest ethnic⁷ group, about a third of the population, and the Oromia region has been a hotbed of opposition to the government in Addis Ababa. But in a VOA interview, lawmaker Bulcha Demeksa rejected suggestions that those detained were terrorists or were involved in a plot to overthrow⁸ the government.

"These are people who live in the countryside, miserably⁹ poor people, they eat once a day, they have nothing, they have no guns, they are just some in little urban areas. They are traders," said Bulcha. "Some of them are street people. What can they do? The government knows that Ethiopians are not armed. Ethiopians are not armed, so these cannot be feared. Fear I do not believe at all. There is nothing to fear."

Bulcha says the detentions are an attempt by the government to intimidate¹⁰ potential political opponents in advance of next January's local elections.

"The purpose in my opinion of these mass arrests is to scare people because local election is coming up in January," said Bulcha. "The government is scaring people, saying, 'If you do not support the government, you will go to jail. If you do not vote for the regional government, nobody else can help you, we will put you in jail.' Particulary, people who are potential representatives are being arrested."

The government spokesman, Bereket Simon, rejected Bulcha's charges. He told VOA, "the rights of the citizens are being respected." He described the accusations¹¹ as "far-fetched stories" designed to grab headlines at a time when domestic and international attention is focusing on Ethiopia's grand celebration of the millennium¹².

Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, which is seven years and eight months behind the more commonly observed Gregorian calendar. The Horn of Africa nation will celebrate the arrival of the third millennium on September 12.

1 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。

2 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 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》

5 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

9 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

11 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

12 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。