VOA标准英语2014--Chaos, Abuse Defy Solution in Libya

 

Chaos¹, Abuse Defy Solution in Libya

LONDON— 

The political and security crisis in Libya is deepening, with competing governments and, according to Amnesty International, widespread human rights violations² committed with impunity³.

Libya has been in a state of almost constant conflict since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi three years ago, and the fighting continues. Rival governments try to control the east and west of the country. But militias⁵ hold much of the real power, representing former Gadhafi supporters, Islamists and other groups.

In a new report focusing on Tripoli and the west, Amnesty International condemns⁶ all parties for widespread human rights abuses and violations of international law.

“We’ve seen three years where instead of investigating crimes, instead of investigating human rights violations, having a sort of transitional justice process, the authorities, the successive governments were actually unable to deal with that situation,” said researcher Magdalena Mughrabi who wrote the report.

Mughrabi says human rights deteriorated⁷ through three years of various governments empowering militias in an effort to bring them into the mainstream⁸, but not being able to control them or to hold them accountable for their actions.

And the political situation has deteriorated, too. The Libyan Supreme⁹ Court invalidated the election of the latest parliament, which still claims power from a remote town in the east, while militia⁴ commander and former Gadhafi-era general Khalifa Hafter has installed another government in Tripoli.

That means more fighting and more suffering for the Libyan people are ahead, says Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding.

“It means that there is still a struggle for power within the country," said Doyle. "There is no legitimate¹⁰ authority. It means there’s going to be a further conflict now to assert who actually has the legitimacy¹¹ to run the country.”

Doyle says some Libyans want another strongman, like Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, while a vocal¹² but small minority see the Islamic State group as a model.

Meanwhile, Libyans continue to flee toward Europe, creating another humanitarian¹³ crisis.

“If we do not address the situation in Libya, we are going to see more of that, and we are going to see increased radicalization and extremism on the southern borders of Europe,” said Doyle.

The 2011 revolution created great hope for oil-rich and relatively¹⁴ well-educated Libya. Now, Doyle says the rival groups need a foreign mediator¹⁵, and there is none they would all trust.

So Amnesty International is calling directly on militia commanders to end the abuses.

“There are certain things that not only can be done but must be done by the armed groups because otherwise they can be liable to prosecution¹⁶ by the International Criminal Court,” said Mughrabi.

But that call is not likely to have much impact on Libyan commanders accustomed to impunity, who believe they are fighting an all-or-nothing battle for the future of their country.

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

8 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

11 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

12 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

13 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。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

16 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。