2006年VOA标准英语-Former Political Prisoners Seek to Aid Tho

By Ron Corben
Mae Sot, Thailand
23 February 2006

Former Burmese political prisoners now living in Thailand have formed an association to support compatriots still detained back home.

 
Burmese women shout slogans against the military rulers of Burma, in New Delhi, India (File photo - December 5, 2005)  
  
In the back lots of this town just a stone's throw from the Burmese border, former Burmese political prisoners are trying to make a difference for comrades still being held by the military government in Rangoon.

The activists² have formed the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, or AAPP.

The association, formed in 2000, monitors more than 1,500 political prisoners held in Burma's extensive network of prisons and detention³ centers.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International says political prisoners are thought to be held in 10 locations throughout the country.

One of the AAPP workers is Myo Myint, a Burmese army engineer until the mid-1980's, when he lost a leg and an arm in an explosion.

Myo Mint says after he met in 1989 with Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition⁴ National League for Democracy, he was arrested. That was the start of almost 15 years in Burma's prison system during which, he says, he was repeatedly tortured.

"I was sent to interrogation center three times - first time four days, second time 11 days, third time six days. In this interrogation center I was tortured many so many [times] because the military so very hate me because I am ex-military. … They take out all my clothes, I was naked four days. And then … they blow, punch, kicking all of my body," he said.

John Glenn, now 36-years-old, says he was arrested in the early 1990's while a biology student at Rangoon University for handing out political pamphlets.

Glenn, a Burmese whose parents named him after an American astronaut, spent two years behind bars before being released in 1993.

He says through a clandestine⁵ network the association provides financial assistance, job training and psychological and physical rehabilitation⁶ to prisoners and their families in Burma. The help continues after prisoners are freed.

"Even though they are released from the prison they couldn't get a job easily, so we try to train them, such as computer training, and English courses so they could get a job easily," said John Glenn.

In 2005, AAPP provided funds to 75 children of former political prisoners for education expenses. This year, Glenn says, it hopes to provide 200 scholarships.

AAPP is partly funded by the Dutch government and the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States.

Next to its small office in a residential⁷ compound is a museum the association hopes will inform the public about what it says are the horrors that Burma's prisoners face.

The museum's white-washed walls are lined with photographs documenting aspects of Burma's recent political history: the crushing of pro-democracy protests in 1988; the faces of more than 150 current political prisoners.

The display includes a set of six-kilogram shackles⁸ similar to those worn by prisoners, along with sketches⁹ of the punishments they undergo. There are chess pieces prisoners carve from soap, and items woven from the plastic bags the prisoners' families are allowed to bring them during brief visits each month.

Glenn tells visitors that prisoners are allowed out of their cells for only 20 minutes a day - once in the morning and once in the evening.

He says the cells stink¹⁰, and the threat of disease is never far away, due to antiquated¹¹ toilet facilities and the poor prison diet.

"We only receive two meals a day. For our lunch rice, bean soup, fish paste. For our dinner vegetable soup, rice and fish paste. And every Thursday they provide a piece of meat, which is only three ounces, and they provide only one egg a week," he explained. "So how could we survive with these meals for many years?"

Glenn says that between 1988 and 2006, 125 political prisoners died in Burmese detention due to ill treatment.

A plaque¹² on the wall is dedicated¹³ to Leo Nicols, who died in prison in 1996. Nicols was not an opposition activist¹ but was sentenced to three years jail for having an unregistered telephone and facsimile in his home.

The Australian had been a long-time resident of Burma and was a close friend of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. A businessman and honorary consul¹⁴ for several European countries, he was arrested in April 1996 and died two months later.

Diplomats¹⁵, rights activists and United Nations officials say Burma continues to hold large numbers of political prisoners, despite international pressure to free them.

"From 2005 to this year they are still arresting. Because in 2004 they released many of the political prisoners but the amount of the political prisoners is still the same. So it means they are still arresting," he noted¹⁶.

The military government has shown no signs of giving into demands it release the prisoners.

Instead, it has extended the prison terms or the house arrest of many prominent detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and NLD deputy chairman Tin Oo.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 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》

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

4 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。

5 clandestine   

adj.秘密的，暗中从事的

参考例句：

• She is the director of clandestine operations of the CIA.她是中央情报局秘密行动的负责人。
• The early Christians held clandestine meetings in caves.早期的基督徒在洞穴中秘密聚会。

6 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

7 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

8 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。

9 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 stink   

vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
• The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。

11 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

12 plaque   

n.饰板，匾，(医)血小板

参考例句：

• There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
• Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。

13 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

14 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

15 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。