VOA慢速英语:国际特赦组织在公平审判问题上发布新的指南
Hello, my friends, and welcome back. It is time to learnand improve your American English. I’m Jim Tedder inWashington. On today’s program, two subjects of aserious nature. First, we will tell you about a new bookfrom Amnesty International that aims to make suretrials around the world are fair, and that judges,lawyers, and political leaders are held accountable.
Then we take another look at the fight against the Ebolavirus in West Africa. If you live in Guinea or Liberia, orknow someone who does, you will want to pay closeattention.
Seven days each week, on radio, television, and theInternet, we give you our world …good or bad …As It Is.
Amnesty International has produced a new book designed to guide fair trialsaround the world. The rights group says the book should have an effect evenin some of the world’s most repressive countries. June Simms has more.
The thick book explores such issues as the “right to liberty” and the “right toequality before the law.” It also investigates subjects like dealing with torture, the rights of children and military courts.
The book is aimed at lawyers and judges. Amnesty International published asimilar guide 15 years ago. That book was also used by (other) people to helpthem press for their rights.
Michael Bochenek heads International Law and Policy at AmnestyInternational. He says fair trials are mainly a problem in repressive countries. But he says they also exist in developed democracies. He says the problemsare most common in countries in crisis.
“We continue to see backsliding year in and year out when it comes to thingslike how you respond to public protest, how you deal with political opponents,how you avoid reaching for easy solutions in an effort to solve what is actuallya far more difficult social problem.”
Michael Bochenek says the guide book is based on international and otherlegal policies. He says it provides a tool to educate judges, lawyers andpolitical leaders, and to put pressure on them when necessary.
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Protesters chant slogans against mass death penalties outside of Cairo University. |
“I think there is a growing recognition of what it takes to adhere to dueprocess. And I think there is more sensitivity than ever before and moreopportunity for states to be held to account publicly than ever before.”
He says no official wants to be identified for using torture or for violatingwidely-recognized rights, even in the most repressive societies.
“It may be that, in particular cases where we’re seeing the most abuses,these kinds of standards that we are pointing to are going to be disregarded. But it makes a difference over time, in the way that more generally theyrespect the fair trial rights than everybody should have.”
He says no single project can end the many problems in legal systemsaround the world. But he says it is an important part of the effort to protectwhat he calls, “one of the basic building blocks of life in a democratic society.” I’m June Simms.
Ebola Virus Deaths Increase
The World Health Organization says one of the biggest tests it has ever facedis fighting the growing number of Ebola cases in West Africa. The WHOreported earlier this week that the Ebola virus has killed more than 100 peoplein Guinea, and at least 10 others in Liberia. WHO officials are mostconcerned that Ebola has spread from the forests of southern Guinea to the country’s capital. Bob Doughty has more on the story.
The aid group Doctors Without Borders is helping local health care workerstreat Ebola patients. Up to 90 percent of those infected in Guinea have diedfrom the disease.
Many people are frightened. This man says most people had not heard of theEbola virus before the outbreak. He says now they are very afraid.
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Fruitbats can carry the Ebola virus. |
The virus has spread to the capital, Conakry, from forests in the south. TheWorld Health Organization is concerned that Ebola is now being reported in an area where it had not appeared before.
Anthony Fauci is one of America’s top experts on infectious diseases. Hesays Ebola’s appearance in West Africa should not come as a surprise.
“It’s a disease that’s spread by direct contact with an infected person, but it’salso spread by exposure to an infected animal like a bat. And, since we knowthose animals are in those areas of those adjacent countries, it’s not unusualto see outbreaks in areas of southern Africa that are adjacent to each other.”
Fruit bats are the main carriers of Ebola. But the virusdoes not kill the animals. People get the virus frominfected bats or other animals. Dr. Fauci says peopleneed to avoid eating bats or other wild animals whenthere’s a possibility of Ebola.
The signs of the disease are very much like to thosesuffered by people with influenza. They include a highbody temperature, weakness, muscle pain, and pain in the head or throat. But that is where the comparisonends. Individuals infected with Ebola will expel food or fluids from the mouth. Other signs are the expulsion of body wastes and bleeding, either inside oroutside the body.
Dr. Fauci says influenza is passed through the air, Ebola is not.
“Ebola is almost invariable spread by direct contact with bodily fluids,particularly blood and secretions- vomit, things like that – of people who aredeathly ill and people are taking care of them. So it’s usually family members,health care providers, minister who minister to the sick and to the dead, and tomorticians who take care of the bodies.”
The best way to control the virus is to get people with signs of Ebola intorestricted areas. Researchers are working to find effective medicines. But fornow, the best chances of beating the disease are to drink plenty of fluids andget treated for secondary infections.
A number of patients in Guinea have recovered and been sent home fromtreatment centers. But that does not mean they are completely free of Ebola. The World Health Organization warns that men who have recovered can stillpass the virus to sex partners for up to seven weeks after they recover. I’mBob Doughty.
And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. Before we move aside for some moreLearning English programs, here is your history lesson for the day. Exactlyone week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, PresidentLyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act. Johnson called it “one of the proudest moments of my presidency.”
Today begins the Kentucky Derby Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. The funlasts for nearly a month as one and a half million people visit the southern cityfor food, fun, and music, leading up to the famous horse race. It is called the “Run for the Roses” because the winning horse and rider receive roses …andmoney …and fame!
And in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, it is the 26th annual Ozark Mountain UFOConference, as people from around the world get together to hear the latestinformation about unidentified flying objects. Many people believe that we are not the only life in the universe, and that space aliens exist and may have evenvisited Earth.
That’s all for today. I’ll see you next week for another look at our world …As It Is.
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