UN Says Sudan Should Do More to Protect Darfur Refugees

 

By Cathy Majtenyi

A senior U.N. official says the Sudanese government is not doing enough to provide security for people displaced by fighting in the war-torn Darfur region of western Sudan. The official made his comments as a deadline expired that the U.N. give the Sudanese government threatening possible sanctions if it fail to restore security and order to the region.

The special adviser¹ to the U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator² on Displacement³, Dennis McNamara, painted a grim picture for reporters Monday about rapes⁴, murders, and other violence that he said people in Darfur are regularly subjected to.

Mr. McNamara, who returned Sunday from a five-day tour of three areas in Darfur, says people there described how a pro-government militia⁵ known as the Janjaweed is terrorizing the traumatized population.

He says there is what he calls a "protection crisis" in the region, as the Janjaweed and others continue to operate with impunity⁶.

"There is no functioning, independent, national justice system in Darfur at present," he said. "That means that perpetrators of violence, including sexual violence, are not prosecuted⁷ by the courts. I know of no prosecution⁸. If that is correct, there is no deterrent⁹, which is part of a normal justice system, to this, unless it's a military deterrent."

The U.N. official's comments are in sharp contrast to the Sudanese government's claim that it has greatly improved the security situation in Darfur.

Last week, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told VOA that his government recently arrested 200 Janjaweed fighters and that it is in the process of convicting and jailing them.

Under terms of an agreement between the Sudanese government and the United Nations last month, the Khartoum government is supposed to disarm¹⁰ the Janjaweed, provide security to the more than 1.2 million people who have been displaced by the fighting, and allow humanitarian¹¹ aid to reach those affected¹² by the 18-month-old conflict.

The United Nations had given the Sudanese government 30 days to do so or face possible political or economic sanctions.

The U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, is scheduled to present his report on the situation in Darfur to the Security Council on September 2. A spokeswoman for Mr. Pronk says she does not know when the Security Council will decide on the sanction question.

Mr. McNamara says humanitarian access to Darfur has greatly improved and that internally displaced people are finally getting most of the assistance they need. But he says insecurity is still rampant¹³.

"The government of Sudan, the authorities, of course need to be pressed to take more effective preventive measures," he said. "Security needs to be improved, perpetrators need to be prosecuted, and, with great respect, the military are not always the best people to protect civilians¹⁴. You must have functioning civil police, you must have civilians on the ground, you must have justice courts working if you want real protection. It is not enough just to have troops."

Mr. McNamara also calls for African Union monitors stationed in Darfur to have what he terms a "robust¹⁵ monitoring and verification role."

More than 100 observers are monitoring a cease-fire agreement the rebels and government signed in April. A force of 155 Nigerian troops headed out for Darfur Monday to join another 150 Rwandan troops already on the ground.

The African Union forces are there to protect the cease-fire monitors. The pan-African organization is currently negotiating with the Sudanese government to send up to 2,000 troops to Darfur.

Cathy Majtenyi for VOA News, Nairobi.

注释：
deadline 最终期限
grim 严酷的，可怕的
traumatize 使受损伤, 使受精神上创伤
impunity 免受惩罚
perpetrator 犯罪者
prosecute 起诉
convict 证明……有罪
Khartoum 喀土木，苏丹首都
rampant 猖獗的
cease-fire 停火
Rwandan 卢旺达的

 

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

3 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

4 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

5 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

6 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。

7 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

8 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

9 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

10 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

15 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。