时间:2019-01-10 作者:英语课 分类:VOA常速英语2008年(四月)


英语课
By Ricci Shryock
Dakar
15 April 2008

Human-rights activists 1 say a slavery trial in Niger last week brought local attention to the persistent 2 problem, but a verdict is not expected until October.  For VOA, Ricci Shryock reports from Dakar.


Lawyer Helen Duffy says Hadiatou Mani was sold to her master for the price of a goat. 


Duffy says evidence presented in court shows Mani was beaten, raped 3 and psychologically abused for more than 10 years.


She said the slave owners' paperwork documents how ingrained the problem is.


"The very fact that this is governed by contracts and by certificates and that there are witnesses really shows that this is quite a pervasive 4 and systematic 5 problem," she said.


Judges in the Niger capital of Niamey finished hearing testimony 6 last week as Mani's slavery case was brought before the Economic Community of West African Sates' court.  Mani is accusing the state of failing to implement 7 2003 laws against slavery.


She says this happened when she was sentenced to jail for bigamy, after she married a man of her own choice.  But a judge ruled in favor of her former slave master who said she was already married to him.  She has two children from him.


Duffy, who works for the advocacy group Interights, helped the victim organize her case.  She says the trial brought much-needed public attention to the issue of slavery in Niger.


"It has encouraged debate on the subject of slavery, which up until now has been completely hidden and not acknowledged by the state or discussed publicly," she added.


Under the 2003 law, it is illegal to keep slaves in Niger, but British-based Anti-Slavery International says there are still more than 40,000 slaves in the country.  Niger human-rights groups say the number is still in the hundreds of thousands.


The regional court, which is usually based in Nigeria, is scheduled to reconvene in Niger in October to announce its verdict.


In the meantime, Mani has returned to her village, but she says her former master retains custody 8 of their two children.




n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
  • 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》
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的
  • Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
  • She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤,使她很难为情。
v.以暴力夺取,强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 );强奸
  • A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
  • We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致,不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句
adj.普遍的;遍布的,(到处)弥漫的;渗透性的
  • It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
  • The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的,并且难以估算。
adj.有系统的,有计划的,有方法的
  • The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
  • The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。
n.证词;见证,证明
  • The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
  • He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
n.(pl.)工具,器具;vt.实行,实施,执行
  • Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划,除非你能完成这项计划。
  • The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。
n.监护,照看,羁押,拘留
  • 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。
学英语单词
'olidays
a rosa (portugal)
acoustic alarm
amplification factor bridge
anophelifugal oil
antiphrasis
around openings for welded attachments
asingne
batho
be in a good
Benllech
Bichol
blind snakes
Bovet, Daniel
brake stop
cacticola
case unit
claridges
cocarboxylases
cock schlappen white
comparison voltage
cytopathy
digital opposition of thumb
Diplotaxis
ekzematous
European Currency Unity
exchange relation
federations of saint kitts and nevis
fireblight
fluid bed heavy medium separator
forced circulation evaporation
ganglioneurofibroma of mediastinum
global constant
great-great-grandparents
hermon
high precision vertical circular sawing machine
Human Right Day
hypoactasia
incarnatable
inlet steam
INPADOC Data Base
instrument landing system
international waterway
Laugh and the world laughs with cry and you weep alone.
loop input signal
lump of fuel
Mahajamba
mailbombed
masonites
maximum current
mc'ing
Micoxolamina
mini-phone connector
mista
multistage compressor
multithreaded
NCAE
Oxytropis tianschanica
palladium-silver
past cost
plough coulter
polyploid plant
pooling area
position angles
posterior risk
prampram
preview mode
pseudoprognathism
ptelea
railing panel
ramus acromialis arteriae thoracoacromialis
recombination continuum
RFenvelope indicator
rixatrix
Salada, L.
saturation moisture capacity
scratching posts
screw conveyer
sedoheptuloses
shackerell
shram
Sialoglycopeptides
special concave and convex designing
spheruloid
stress relief
surplus analysis
temporal maze
topographic drafting
trailing pole horn
Trigonotis
tucet
uncipressure
undeflected beam
underwater-mine extender mechanism
Van der Hum
video enhancement microscopy
volleyball team
Weltschmerz
wheel-type soil stabilizer
wordcraft
zia-ul-haq
zosteropid