2006年VOA标准英语-New UN Rights Body to Review Alleged Abuses By

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
01 July 2006

The new United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution to make a review of alleged¹ human rights abuses by Israel a permanent part of the agenda of future meetings.

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The former, discredited² U.N. Commission on Human Rights was abolished because nations argued it had become too politicized.

Senior Counsel for B'Nai B'Rith International in Canada David Matas said the U.N. Council was created to avoid the politicization and focus on Israel that existed under the old commission, which also reviewed alleged Israeli abuses every time it met. "In the end, there was a resolution passed condemning³ Israel. It was the only country-specific resolution," he said.

Matas noted⁴ the council did not pass specific resolutions on other countries, such as Sudan. "Simply in terms of numbers, the number of people killed in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza is nowhere near the number of people killed in Sudan. And yet, there is nothing about Sudan, or Iran, or Burma or any other country, where there is glaring human rights problems," he said.

The resolution was adopted by 29 votes in favor, five against and 12 abstentions.

The United States is not a member of the Council, so it has no right to vote on resolutions. However, the U.S. ambassador expressed disappointment with the outcome.

In addition to the resolution, 21 mainly Islamic countries have requested an emergency special session of the Human Rights Council, which is likely to focus on Israel. The session is expected to take place late next week.

The resolution also called for U.N. human rights investigators⁵ to report on the situation in the territories at the council's next regular session, set for September.

Israel protested Friday's vote, describing it as "imbalanced and intentionally⁶ one-sided."

During its two week session, the council also adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance⁷, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous⁸ Peoples.

1 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

2 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

3 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 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》

6 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

7 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。

8 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。