2006年VOA标准英语-Ivory Coast Opens Controversial Identifica

By Joe Bavier in Abidjan
Franz Wild in Meagui
18 May 2006

Officials in a half dozen towns in war-divided Ivory Coast have begun registering residents who, until now, have had no documents or legal status. The pilot project launched by the country's transitional prime minister is a necessary step to clear the way for a presidential vote later this year. Joe Bavier has more from Abidjan, with additional reporting by Franz Wild from the western town of Meagui.

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Charles Konan Banny (file photo) 
  

"The seven-day pilot project is not only the starting point for identification," Ivorian Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny told a crowd gathered in Meagui, one of the sites in western Ivory Coast. "It is also the starting point for the entire peace process," he said.

In Port Bouet, a neighborhood on the edge of the commercial capital, Abidjan, several dozen residents arrived early Thursday to take part in the identification process.

Twenty-year-old Gisele Nta says she has come to obtain documents, so she can apply for a birth certificate. "My parents never applied¹ for one," she says. "I have never had any papers."

Many Ivorians are in similar situations. Many parents never register the births of their children, making it difficult for them to obtain national identity cards. Others, displaced by the war, left their ID cards behind when they fled the fighting.

The cards are needed for voting, and in the current atmosphere of lawlessness in the country, Gisele says, they are needed to avoid having to bribe² policemen at the checkpoints in the south.

The identification of Ivorian citizens has long been one of the key stumbling blocks in negotiations³ to end the civil war that has divided Ivory Coast in two for more than three-and-a-half years.

The northern rebel New Forces say they are fighting for equal rights for northerners, who, they say, are treated as second class citizens.

The issue is especially important in the run up to a planned presidential election in October. Decisions made on nationality in the coming months will determine who will be allowed to vote.
 

Laurent Gbagbo (file photo)   
  
Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo are against the prime minister's pilot project, which, they say, could be used to manipulate voter lists.

Dozens of militant⁴ pro-Gbagbo supporters arrived at the identification center in Port Bouet. Paterne Kouame was one of them.

"There are many [foreigners] in our country," he said. "They want to profit [from] this process to be Ivorian. That's why were here. To see how the civil servant will do his job."

The hearings are open to the public, a way of ensuring the process is transparent⁵. But in Port Bouet, Young Patriots⁶ intervened during several interviews, and several fights broke out between Gbagbo supporters, residents wanting to register and police.

Most who had been waiting have their cases heard left during the violence, including Gisele, and her sister Elisabeth, who had come to serve as one of her two required witnesses.

"They say you are an Ivorian acting⁷ like a foreigner without papers," Elisabeth says. "They call you 'a chicken without an owner, running all over the place.'"

A parallel plan to begin the early phases of disarmament of northern rebels and southern militias⁸ failed to take place after talks broke down between rebel and government military leaders Wednesday.

The pilot identification project is due to end on May 25, and is due to be followed by full-scale identification process across the country.

1 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

2 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

5 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

6 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网