VOA标准英语2010年-Missing Lawyer Case Tests Thailand Hum

A Thai-Muslim woman activist¹ holds a book with the cover showing a photo of missing Thai lawyer Somchai Neelapaichit (2006 File)

 

Six years ago, a prominent human-rights lawyer disappeared in Thailand.  Despite government promises to resolve the case, nothing is known about his whereabouts.  Human-rights groups say the case is a test of Thailand's performance on human rights.
 
In February 2004, human-rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaichit spoke² of his concerns over police injustice³ and brutality⁴ in southern Thailand.
 
Somchai accused members of the Thai military of involvement in a raid on an army depot⁵ in early 2004.  He says five Muslim men who were arrested and tortured in jail were innocent.
 
That was to be his final public address.  Less than three weeks later, Somchai was abducted⁶ from the streets of Bangkok, bundled into a car and driven away.  He has not been seen since, and his family and fellow activists⁷ suspect he is dead.
 
Five police officers were charged with relatively⁸ minor⁹ offenses¹⁰ in connection with the abduction.
 
One was convicted of assault and sentenced to three years in prison.  The others were acquitted¹¹.
 
Somchai Homla-or also is a Thai human-rights lawyer, and is not related to the missing man.  But he says the disappearance¹² is directly linked to accusations¹³ about the torture of the five Muslims, all of whom were cleared of any wrongdoing.
 
"According to the information we believe that Somchai was enforced disappeared [kidnapped] because he raised [torture] in the court room.  We believe some policemen who participated in that torturing might be afraid of being investigated and being prosecuted," he said.  "It is one of the reasons why some policemen committed crimes against Mr. Somchai."
 
The disappearance came as the Thai government was cracking down on sectarian violence in southern Thailand.  The region is home to much of the country's Muslim minority.  The missing lawyer also was a Muslim and was known for challenging the government on its conduct in the south and taking cases of alleged¹⁴ police and military abuse.

Last year, Human Rights Watch reported five Thai prime ministers have acknowledged that police officers had a role in Somchai's abduction.
 
But the ultimate perpetrators have never been brought to justice.  The Human Rights Watch representative in Thailand, Sunai Pasuk, says that primarily is because of police resistance.
 
"We have very explicit¹⁵ examples of resistance within the bureaucracy, say for example, the disappearances¹⁶ of Somchai Neelapaichit and other Muslims from southern Thailand, [that] have received no cooperation from the Royal Thai Police," said Sunai.
 
The Ministry¹⁷ of Justice's Department of Special Investigations¹⁹ has primary responsibility for the case.
 
But the National Counter-Corruption Commission also has investigated the officers accused of torturing the five Muslims.  Late last year, one of the torture victims disappeared, despite being in a witness-protection program.

Hopes for progress in the investigation¹⁸ rose a year ago, shortly after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva took office.  He told Somchai's wife, in front of a room full of journalists, the investigation would move forward.

"Yes, I will do my very best," he said.  "I believe that there is a good chance that there will be progress in term terms of investigations."
 

Angkhana Neelapaichit

But Somchai's wife, Angkhana Neelapaichit, says she has been let down.
 
"When Abhisit became prime minister and I went to have a meeting with him and I asked him about the Somchai case because I know he always [talks] about the many cases of human-rights abuses in Thailand, and Somchai is one of the cases," she said.  "But one year has already passed and I did not see anything [that is] progress."
 
Human Rights Watch's Sunai Pasuk says despite Mr. Ahbisit's good intentions, the bureaucracy has thwarted²⁰ the investigation.
 
"I believe Abhisit was genuine and sincere when he first raised his intentions to address issues about state-sponsored abuses and impunity²¹.  But the reality in Thailand is he could not translate his intention into policy," he said.  "So we have a prime minister who is well meaning, but cannot administer the state mechanism²²."
 
Ministry of Justice investigators²³ recently agreed to widen the case and take into account circumstantial evidence, such as mobile phone records.  But human-rights activists warn the agency must ensure its evidence is strong before going to court, or risk having the case collapse²⁴.
 
Activists say Somchai Neelapaichit's case is a test of Thailand's commitment to human rights.  But under Thai law, to convict anyone of murder or kidnapping in the case, the prosecutors²⁵ must either find Somchai or his body.

 

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 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

4 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

5 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

6 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

7 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》

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

10 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

11 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

12 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

13 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

14 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

15 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

16 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

17 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

18 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

19 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

20 thwarted   

阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
• Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。

21 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

22 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

23 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

25 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。