VOA标准英语2008年-Government, Relatives in Mauritania Express Con

The government and relatives of terrorist suspects in Mauritania have concerns as those charged await trial. The government has moved the suspects inside a military garrison¹ to prevent another escape, but their relatives say they are innocent, and that they are being tortured. VOA's Nico Colombant at our Dakar bureau has more with reporting by Ebrima Sillah in this the third part of a series of life in post-election Mauritania, after decades of military rule.
　
Women stage sit-in outside Supreme² Court

Women, mostly mothers and sisters of terror suspects, stage a sit-in outside Mauritania's Supreme Court in Nouakch.

Aminatou Mint Ayouba says women have an advantage over men in having their voices heard, because she says, if the men were here protesting, they would be beaten up by police.

She says her only son was taken away one morning, when police broke into her home with guns raised. She says she has not seen him since.
　
Lala Mint Sidi

Lala Mint Sidi is also angry. She says her brother was in the final year of university studies when he was arrested while sleeping at his home. She says he is innocent and does not know why he is being jailed.

Mauritania's government has been rounding up dozens of people it calls suspected Islamic terrorists, after a string of attacks against tourists, soldiers, and the Israeli embassy.

After several key suspects in the murder of the French tourists fled the main Nouakchott jail and were recaptured, terror suspects were moved to a new prison inside a military garrison.

Mint Sidi says she has heard the detained are being tortured, and that they are being kept up without sleep. She says she also heard the detainees were forced to sign statements that had been written in French, even though they do not understand French.

A report issued by London-based Amnesty International says that in May, about 40 people accused of involvement in armed terrorist attacks were detained incommunicado for longer than the 15 days allowed by Mauritanian law. It said some were tortured.

Previous terror suspects who were released said they had been burned with cigarettes and had their hands tied under their knees and with a metal bar suspended from the ceiling in what is called the "jaguar³ position."

Amnesty International said there had been no public reaction from the government about these allegations. Officials were not available to comment about the women's protests or their allegations.
　
Lawyer Ahmed Ould Yusuf Ould Sheikh Sidna says normal judicial⁴ procedures are being ignored

The president of the Bar Association of Mauritania, Ahmed Ould Yusuf Ould Sheikh Sidna, told VOA that with terror suspects all normal legal procedures are being ignored.

Since their relocation inside military barracks, he says, it makes it very difficult for defense⁵ lawyers to have access to their clients. He says it is impossible to know what the military is doing with the detainees, since normal prison rules do not seem to apply anymore.

Sheikh Sidna says he believes Mauritania's government is creating its own enemies, to get more funding and U.S. help for its military as part of the war on terror. He says he does not believe there are extreme forms of Islam in Mauritania.

But anthropologists in Mauritania say Islamic radicalism⁶ has grown during the past decades and accelerated even more since open elections in 2007 ended years of military-dominated rule.

They say unemployed⁷ youth, who come to cities losing their tribal⁸ roots, or university educated men who get no jobs, despite working hard to get diplomas, often turn to extreme religious ideology⁹. They also say some shows on Arab satellite channels, which are becoming more and more accessible, also fuel extremism.

The government says the terror threat is real, and that the group al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has been recruiting Mauritanians into training camps in the Sahara.

Elected in 2007, President Ould Sidi Mohamed Cheikh Abadallahi has denied restricting civil liberties. He has said the democratic system Mauritanians are trying to put in place cannot accept this.

 

1 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

2 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。

3 jaguar   

n.美洲虎

参考例句：

• He was green with envy when he saw my new Jaguar car.看见我那辆美洲虎牌新车，他非常妒忌。
• Should you meet a jaguar in the jungle,just turn slowly,walk away.But slowly,never look back.你在丛林中若碰上美洲虎，就慢慢转身走开，可一定要慢，切莫回头看。

4 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

5 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。

6 radicalism   

n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义

参考例句：

• His radicalism and refusal to compromise isolated him. 他的激进主义与拒绝妥协使他受到孤立。
• Education produced intellectual ferment and the temptations of radicalism. 教育带来知识界的骚动，促使激进主义具有了吸引力。

7 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

8 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

9 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。