美国国家公共电台 NPR Ethiopia Grapples With The Aftermath Of A Deadly Weekend

Ethiopia Grapples With The Aftermath Of A Deadly Weekend

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We're going to listen to sounds now that the Ethiopian government does not want you to hear. The sounds seem to be evidence of a government crackdown on peaceful protests. Amnesty International says nearly 100 people were killed this past weekend when soldiers fired live bullets in different areas of the country. After nearly a year of anti-government protests in Ethiopia, this weekend was one of the deadliest yet. NPR's East Africa correspondent Gregory Warner says there has been a furious attempt on both sides to explain this violence.

GREGORY WARNER, BYLINE¹: The videos trickled² out slowly on social media - slowly because those posting them had to use special software to get around a government internet block. This video showed thousands of people in the streets of the northern Ethiopian town of Gondar. And there were two significant things about this video. One was the sheer size of the crowd. This is a country where civil protests are usually banned. But the second was the location. For the last nine months, anti-government protests have erupted further south among one historically marginalized ethnic³ group called the Oromo. Now, the protests have spread to a second group, the Amhara.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in Amharic).

WARNER: These two groups have different local issues, but what they share is an antipathy⁴ to the rule of a third minority ethnic group called the Tigray. They say the Tigray elite⁵ have a cartel-like grip on the government, its military and the fast-growing economy. Other videos were more painful to watch. They purported⁶ to show the government response to these demonstrations⁷ - police beating unarmed protesters while women gasped⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Foreign language spoken).

WARNER: Witnesses say Ethiopian soldiers even fired directly on the protesters, killing⁹ almost a hundred people. And even days after those weekend confrontations¹⁰, witness reports were filtering back to the capital - reports of casualties, reports a door-to-door raids by police. Tsedale Lemma is editor-in-chief of the Addis Standard. It's one of the few Ethiopian magazines that risks open critiques of the government. She talked to me over a scratchy cell phone from Addis Ababa.

TSEDALE LEMMA: We're hearing who's been wounded, who's in hospital, who's been killed, not to mention those who have disappeared without a trace.

WARNER: Meanwhile, she described an Orwellian spectacle on state-run television - what she called ferocious¹¹ PR to discredit¹² the protests.

LEMMA: Very ferocious PR work. People are being paraded in the TV, being made to denounce the protests and people denouncing even the use of Facebook.

WARNER: Denouncing the use of Facebook as a dangerous tool in the hands of hate mongers. And if you watch those state-run TV broadcasts, what you'll be told is that these protests are fueled by ethnic separatists, even ethnic terrorists. The activists¹³ dispute this. They say their beef is with the government, not with any one ethnic group.

LEMMA: I don't see that people are deliberately¹⁴ orchestrating ethnic violence in the country, but of course the government is eager to identify it as such.

WARNER: Because in Ethiopia, politics is ethnicity, and ethnicity is geography. The country is formally divided into autonomous¹⁵ ethnic states, each with its own ethnic government. Political parties are organized along ethnic lines. And so any critique of the central government will automatically take on ethnic dimensions. The protesters impugned¹⁶ the elite Tigrayans, the government officials and army generals who they say have a chokehold on the country. The government says they're fomenting¹⁷ ethnic war against the whole Tigrayan people, rich and poor. In the fragile ethnic balance that is Ethiopia today, the battle to claim that narrative¹⁸ could be just as important as the battle in the streets. Gregory Warner, NPR News, Nairobi.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 trickled   

v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Blood trickled down his face. 血从他脸上一滴滴流下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tears trickled down her cheeks. 热泪一滴滴从她脸颊上滚下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

8 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 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。

10 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

11 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

12 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

13 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》

14 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

15 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

16 impugned   

v.非难，指谪( impugn的过去式和过去分词 )；对…有怀疑

参考例句：

• All I can hope is that the good name of the Bank will not be impugned in some way. 我所希望的，就是该银行的好名声不要在某些方面受到质疑。 来自辞典例句

17 fomenting   

v.激起，煽动（麻烦等）( foment的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They accused him of fomenting political unrest. 他们指控他煽动政治动乱。
• Three sailors were fomenting a mutiny on the ship. 三个水手正在船上煽动叛变。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。