VOA标准英语2011--Report: Somalis Want Justice, Dignity

Report: Somalis Want Justice, Dignity

 

In Somalia, as in other conflict areas, civilians² have suffered the most. Besides being caught in the crossfire³, they’ve been forced from their homes and faced drought and starvation with little aid available. A new report says Somalis want the warring parties to understand the damage that’s been done to life and property.

The report is a joint⁴ effort by CIVIC⁵, a Washington-based NGO, and the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR.

“When I was in Somalia earlier this year and I visited Mogadishu with AMISOM forces, you know, I looked around and thought, I never thought it was this bad,” said Sarah Holewinski, executive director of CIVIC.

AMISOM is the African Union’s mission in Somalia. Its mandate⁶ calls for stabilizing⁷ the situation in the country to allow for humanitarian⁸ operations. Holewinski said the conflict has taken its toll⁹ on the Somali capital.

“Bombed out buildings and civilians huddled¹⁰ underneath¹¹ roofs to avoid mortars¹² coming from al Shabab. It is one of the worst places I have ever visited,” she said.

The U.S. has labeled al-Shabaab terrorist group. It has battled forces loyal to the Transitional Federal Government. The group is currently the target of a Kenyan military offensive, following a number of terrorist attacks in Nairobi. Hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees have fled to Kenya.

What’s been missing

In Mogadishu, AU forces display ammunition13 left behind by militants14.

Holewinski said it was obvious that humanitarian assistance was needed immediately, but something else was missing. That something was the voice of the Somali people.

“What do the Somali people want when their homes have been bombed or they’re injured or they’ve had loved ones killed, including breadwinners? And so we took the past months to really investigate that in Mogadishu, in the displaced persons camps, and figure out the perspective of the Somali people and be able to bring that to the African Union and of course the other warring parties that are there,” she said.

More than 100 Somalis were interviewed for the report called Civilian¹ Harm in Somalia: Creating an Appropriate Response. Holewinski said, “Nothing will be able to bring back what the Somalis have lost.”

She added, “consider yourself in an armed conflict and your mother or father is killed or one of your children. Or you have an injury now, which means you can’t drive that taxi that you used to or you can’t go to the factory to work. Or your house has been bombed and it’s been in your family for 50 years. Those are things that can never be given back. What can be given back to some extent is dignity.”

Seeking justice

The report calls on warring parties to never intentionally¹⁵ target civilians. Al-Shabab has been accused of using human shields in Mogadishu. Holewinski said warring parties should make amends¹⁶.

“It means making sure that when you have caused harm you figure out what that harm is. You investigate it. You apologize. You give the family an explanation and then you make some sort of tangible¹⁷ amends, which can be compensation. It can be livestock¹⁸. It can be the rebuilding of a home. You can’t bring the family back to normal, but you can recognize their losses in a way that is meaningful in their lives,” she said.

She said the Somalis want justice, but justice that’s in line with Somali culture and tradition.

“We talked with, for example, a man who had been injured and lost his son. He was not the kind of angry that I would be if that had happened to me. Rather, what he said was, look, we’ve got these traditional mechanisms¹⁹ in Somalia for conflict resolution, whether it’s based on Sharia, Islamic law – whether it’s based on some particular clan²⁰ culture’s law for conflict resolution. I’d like to see the warring parties use those mechanisms and somehow recognize my losses,” she said.

Women usually bear the brunt of the conflict, after the men in their lives leave to fight or risk their lives trying to find food and are killed. They have children to care for and few options. Some are forced to marry an uncle, for example.

This year, many Somali women walked for days to escape drought and famine. Many had to leave dying children along the way. Holewinski says had it not been for security problems, many more lives might have been saved.

She said while she can give the report’s proposals to AMISOM, she admits it’s unlikely al-Shabab would even consider them.

“With al-Shabab, the only thing that I can say to them is stop targeting civilians. Abide²¹ by international law. Once we get to that point, that baseline point, then we can start talking about actually dignifying²² civilian harm,” she said.

The report says the African Union will need financial assistance and experts “to create the model mechanisms and procedures” to help return dignity to the Somali people.

1 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。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

4 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。

5 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

6 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

7 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

10 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

11 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

12 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

13 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

14 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

15 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

16 amends   

n. 赔偿

参考例句：

• He made amends for his rudeness by giving her some flowers. 他送给她一些花，为他自己的鲁莽赔罪。
• This country refuses stubbornly to make amends for its past war crimes. 该国顽固地拒绝为其过去的战争罪行赔罪。

17 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

18 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

19 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

21 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

22 dignifying   

使显得威严( dignify的现在分词 )； 使高贵； 使显赫； 夸大

参考例句：