VOA常速英语2007年-Sri Lankan Authorities Criticized for Mass Arre

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
05 December 2007

There is a growing chorus of protest among international and local rights groups over the recent mass arrests of minority ethnic¹ Tamils by Sri Lankan authorities. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi.

The arrests of over 2,500 Tamil civilians² took place during a security crackdown after 20 people were killed last week in two bomb attacks in Colombo.

The attacks were blamed on Tamil Tiger guerrillas, who are fighting for an autonomous³ Tamil homeland.

Most of the detainees have since been released, but more than 200 still remain in custody⁴.

The government says the arrests were not an action against the Tamil minority community, but were prompted by security concerns.

But the government faces heavy criticism from human rights groups and Tamil politicians, who say Tamils are being singled out by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan security forces.

Amnesty International says the arrests were made on "arbitrary and discriminatory grounds."

Jehan Perera, who heads a peace advocacy group, the National Peace Council, explains the concerns of the rights groups.

"People are essentially⁵ being asked to prove that they are innocent, which is a complete turnaround of the normal legal processes … so it is in our view a great violation⁶ of human rights," Perera said.

An independent policy research group in Colombo, the Center for Policy Alternatives, has challenged the arrests in the Supreme⁷ Court, saying they violated fundamental rights because legal procedures were not followed.

It asks the Supreme Court to ensure that such detentions⁸ do not take place in future.

The government earlier faced criticism for violating the rights of the Tamil community. In June, authorities rounded up hundreds of Tamils and evicted⁹ them from Colombo. They were allowed to return after criticism from the international community and rights groups.

Sri Lanka's civil conflict erupted in 1983, triggered by complaints of discrimination against the ethnic Tamils by the majority Sinhalese community. A cease-fire that held for two years broke down last year, leading to renewed combat in recent months.

1 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。

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 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。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

7 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。

8 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。

9 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。