2007年VOA标准英语-US Rejects Burmese Constitution Process as 'Tot

By David Gollust
State Department
04 September 2007

The United States Tuesday dismissed as a "total sham¹" the outline for a new Burmese constitution produced by a national convention assembled by the country's military government. The State Department says the results of the "illegitimate" convention do not represent the will of the Burmese people. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

acting2 Prime Minister Lt. General Thein Sein delivers an opening address at the National Convention in Nyaunghnapin, 18 Jul 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070908/0927150.jpg" width="188" vspace="2" border="0" />

Burma's acting Prime Minister Lt. General Thein Sein delivers an opening address at the National Convention in Nyaunghnapin, 18 Jul 2007

The United States has long been critical of the constitution-writing exercise in Burma, because it excluded principal opposition³ groups and ethnic⁴ minorities.

It is now dismissing the results of the process - a set of guidelines for a new constitution, as a sham document without any political legitimacy⁵.

The Burmese military leadership announced Tuesday that after 14 years of on-and-off work, the convention had produced a set of charter guidelines that will eventually lead to national elections.

Despite the junta⁶'s depiction⁷ of the guidelines as part of a democratic "road map," domestic and international critics immediately condemned⁸ the package, saying its provisions would insure that the military remains⁹ the dominant¹⁰ force in the country.

Tom Casey

At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said for the process to have had any legitimacy, it would have had to have included opposition factions¹¹, notably¹² Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

"I think our simplest response to it is we view it as a total sham," said Casey. "The delegates to this convention were hand-picked by the regime. They haven't been allowed to engage in any open debate, and of course they also excluded the National League for Democracy, which is Burma's largest political party."

"It's also somewhat ironic¹³ that the conclusions of this supposed open political process coincide with a crackdown on citizens for peacefully protesting, and trying to exercise their freedom of expression," he continued.

Aung San Suu Kyi's party won national elections in a landslide¹⁴ in 1990 but was barred by the military from taking power. The 1991 Nobel Peace laureate has been under various forms of detention¹⁵ most of the time since then, including house arrest since May of 2003.

News accounts say the guidelines would give the military continued control of key ministries¹⁶ and unelected blocks of seats in legislative¹⁷ bodies, while limiting the rights of political parties with provisions tailored to exclude Aung San Suu Kyi and her party.

Spokesman Casey said it is hard to see how the work of the constitutional convention is salvageable¹⁸.

A written statement here reaffirmed the U.S. call for "genuine, inclusive dialogue" between the junta and opposition factions, leading to a civilian¹⁹, democratic government that respects human rights.

Min Ko Naing (l) and other members of the 88 Generation Students group march through Rangoon to protest over fuel price hikes, 19 Aug 2007

The U.S. statement also called on the junta, which has responded harshly in recent days to public protests over fuel price increases, to halt the arrest and harassment²⁰ of non-violent activists²¹, release all political prisoners, end attacks on civilians²² in ethnic minority areas and lift curbs²³ on humanitarian²⁴ aid groups.

Casey said he expects the Burmese human rights issue to be revisited by the U.N. Security Council in the coming weeks. A U.S.-sponsored resolution condemning²⁵ Burma won majority support in the council last January but was vetoed by vetoes by Russia.

1 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

7 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

8 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

11 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

12 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

13 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

14 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

15 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。

16 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

17 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

18 salvageable   

adj. 可抢救的(可打捞的)

参考例句：

• Tank wrecks found on maps are no longer salvageable. 地图上自带的坦克残骸将不能被轴心国工兵回收。
• Their marriage was not salvageable. 他们的婚姻已不可挽回。

19 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

20 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

21 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》

22 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。

23 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

24 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。

25 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》