VOA标准英语2009年-UN Secretary-General Receives Report o

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has received the report of an international commission of inquiry¹ into September's killing² of opposition³ protesters in Guinea. Human rights leaders in Guinea say the international community must hold accountable those responsible for the violence.

Scott Stearns | Dakar 18 December 2009

 
Photo: AP
Woman reacts as she and others look for bodies of family members and friends that were killed during rally in Conakry, 2 Oct 2009.

 
The secretary-general says he is now considering the report and will then pass it on to  Guinea's military government, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, and the U.N. Security Council.

The three-member commission spent ten days in Conakry hearing testimony⁴ from security officials and opposition demonstrators who were at the national stadium September 28.

Local human rights groups say dozens of women were raped⁶ and at least 157 people were killed demonstrating against the expected candidacy of military ruler Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. His government says 57 people died, most in the crush of people fleeing the stadium.

Now that the U.N. commission has finished its report, human rights leaders in Guinea say the international community must hold accountable those responsible for the violence.

Tierno Madjou Sow is president of Guinea's Human Rights Organization. He says the military government has committed crimes against humanity to be brought before the International Criminal Court.

Sow says he is certain the violence of September 28 was organized because many civilian⁷ and public security officials have testified about how it was pre-planned. Sow says you can see how it was premeditated in the way it was carried out, in the way that protesters were allowed to enter the stadium, then all of the doors were closed.

Aliou Barry heads Guinea's national observer group on human rights.

Barry says what is important is that there is a phenomena⁸ of impunity⁹ in Guinea that does not punish people responsible for human rights violations¹⁰. People who torture live together with their victims. Since September 28, Barry says no one has been arrested. And victims are afraid, especially women who have given testimony about being raped.

In addition to the U.N. investigation¹¹, Guinea's military government has its own inquiry. That commission's president, Sirman Kouyate, says the group has already heard testimony from opposition leaders, civil society leaders, and security chiefs.

Kouyate says the commission of inquiry's sub-committees have now begun their work on the ground to investigate what happened.

But the commission raised questions this week when the head of its sub-committee investigating rape⁵ said there were no confirmed cases of sexual assault reported at the Donka National Hospital.

Because she says most of the women who claim to have been raped waited more than one month to seek medical treatment, subcommittee chair Pierrette Tolno says the commission  now concludes there were no confirmed cases of rape relating to September's violence.

Corinne Dufka heads the West Africa office for Human Rights Watch.

"There were a number of women who actually did seek medical treatment according to doctors who I interviewed at Danka Hospital. They said they treated three or four women for splinters, for hemorrhages secondary to being raped with sticks or guns or other objects. So women did get treated in the hospital," said Dufka.

Human Rights Watch Thursday released the most comprehensive report to date on the September 28 killing. It says the violence was an organized, premeditated operation by members of the presidential guard, gendarmes¹², police, and civilian militia¹³.

Captain Camara blames the violence on both his political opponents and what he calls "uncontrollable elements" of the military.

The former head of the presidential guard says he shot Captain Camara in the head two week ago because the captain was trying to blame him for the September violence. In an interview with French radio, Lieutenant¹⁴ Aboubacar Diakite says he will not turn himself in because he believes he will be killed to cover-up what happened September 28.

Captain Camara is recovering in a Moroccan military hospital. There has been little news about his condition and no official word on when he might return to Guinea.
 

1 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

2 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。

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 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

5 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

6 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

9 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 gendarmes   

n.宪兵，警官( gendarme的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Of course, the line of prisoners was guarded at all times by armed gendarmes. 当然，这一切都是在荷枪实弹的卫兵监视下进行的。 来自百科语句
• The three men were gendarmes;the other was Jean Valjean. 那三个人是警察，另一个就是冉阿让。 来自互联网

13 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

14 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。