VOA常速英语2013--缅甸人权问题

 

UN Third Committee On Burma Human Rights 缅甸人权问题

The United Nations’ Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian¹ affairs and human rights issues, recently adopted by consensus² a resolution on the  situation of human rights in Burma. The United States was one of 41 co-sponsors of the resolution, and the Burmese government joined the international consensus.

负责社会，人道主义事务和人权问题的美国第三委员会近日一致通过了关于缅甸人权局势的决议。美国是四十个共同提案国之一，缅甸政府参与了此次国际协商。

The resolution welcomed the positive developments in Burma and the stated commitment by the Burmese government “to continue on the path of political and economic  reform, democratization and national reconciliation³ and the promotion⁴ of human rights, recognizing the scale of the reform effort undertaken to date.”

这项决议接受缅甸积极发展，缅甸政府发表声明“继续政治经济重组，民主化和民主和解以及促进人权的道路上，承认迄今为止已经开展了的改革工作的规模。

The resolution noted⁵ the “increasing space for political activity, assembly, speech and the press” in the country, while it urged the Burmese government “to fulfill⁶  its commitment to carry out comprehensive media reform, and to protect the rights to freedom of expression, association and of peaceful assembly, including to allow  for a free independent media and to ensure the safety, security and freedom of human rights defenders⁷ to pursue their activities.”

该决议注释“增加缅甸政治活动，集会，言论和出版空间“同时敦促缅甸政府”履行承诺，开展全面媒体改革，保护言论，结社和和平集会的自由。包括允许自由独立媒体，确保安全，安保 和人权捍卫者开展活动的自由。”

The resolution also expressed concern about remaining human rights violations⁸, including arbitrary arrests, land confiscations, sexual violence, and cruel, inhuman⁹ and  degrading treatment.

该决议也表示了对于现存侵犯人权问题的担忧。这些问题包括任意逮捕，没收土地，性暴力和残忍，不人道和有辱人格的待遇。

In co-sponsoring the resolution, the United States recognizes the progress Burma has made in building the foundations of a sustainable democracy. But great challenges  remain, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power noted after the resolution was approved.

在共同提案此项决议是，美国承认缅甸在可持续民主基础建立的成绩。但是美国驻联合国大使指出该决议批准后仍然有巨大挑战。

“We share the General Assembly’s concern,” she said in a statement, “that arbitrary arrests and detentions¹⁰ of Burmese human rights defenders continue. [The  resolution] urges the government to address these issues, as well as the violence, displacement¹¹ and dire¹² economic conditions affecting ethnic¹³ and religious minorities,  including the Rohingya in the Rakhine State and Muslim minorities throughout the country.”

“我们与联合国大会仍有担忧，“她在一份声明中说“任意逮捕和拘留缅甸人权捍卫者的问题仍在持续。【该法案】敦促政府解决这些问题，以及暴力，流离失所和影响种族和宗教少数派， 包括罗辛亚在若开邦和穆斯林少数民族在全国各地严峻的经济状况。

Ambassador Power said that through such resolutions as the one approved on Burma by the U.N.’s Third Committee, “The international community has once again  demonstrated its support for the fundamental freedoms and dignity of individuals around the world, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

大使说这些决议与联合国第三委员会在缅甸通过的一样，国际社会再次展现了其在世界人权宣言中对世界各地的个人基本自由和尊严的支持。

1 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。

2 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

7 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

10 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。

11 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

12 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

13 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。