2007年VOA标准英语-Cambodian Police Arrest Former Khmer Rouge Lead

By Rory Byrne
Phnom Penh
19 September 2007

The former second-in-command of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge¹ regime has been arrested and is being held in a specially-built prison outside Phnom Penh. Noun Chea is only the second senior leader of the Khmer Rouge to be arrested for his part in the deaths of almost two million people in Cambodia in the late 1970s. Rory Byrne reports for VOA from Phnom Penh.

Police arrested Noun Chea at his home on the Thai-Cambodian border in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

He was taken by helicopter to a prison outside the capital, Phnom Penh.

As the senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge regime, his arrest had been widely expected.

Witnesses say he appeared calm and cooperated fully² with the authorities.

"There were many rumors³ in the media that something was going to happen as soon as Friday, so it's pretty safe to say that he was probably not unprepared for something like this to take place," said Peter Foster, the official spokesman for the U.N. side of the joint⁴ Cambodian-U.N. Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

Noun Chea was right-hand man to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot and was known as "Brother Number Two" in the regime's all-powerful five-man inner circle.

The ultra-Maoist group forced Cambodians to work in labor⁵ camps in their drive to create a utopian, classless society. Almost two million people died from starvation, overwork or murder.

 

Youk Channg is the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which is compiling evidence on the Khmer Rouge regime ahead of the upcoming tribunal.

He says Noun Chea is likely to blame foreign powers for most of the killing⁶.

"He blames the foreigners for what happened here. He blames the Indochina War, you know, things like that," he said. "But, he denies knowing about the number of people who have been killed or died at that time, for example. He has repeatedly stated that, you know, we only look at one side of the KR, the bad side of it, you know - Khmer Rouge [is] equal to bad forever - that is his defense⁷. That's why we need the tribunal, for him to come and defend and let us understand."

The Tribunal plans to prosecute⁸ at least five former Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity. Foster says the arrest of Noun Chea marks an important milestone⁹ in bringing those responsible for Cambodia's genocide to justice.

"Today we brought into the facility the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge regime and I think this will go a long way - I hope this will go a long way - to convince those critics that the ECCC is serious about fulfilling its mandate¹⁰ and bring the senior leaders and those most responsible to justice," he said.

Noun Chea is to be informed of the charges against him and advised of his legal options.

The arrests of the other three former Khmer Rouge leaders are expected soon.

1 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 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。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

9 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

10 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。