2006年VOA标准英语-George Clooney, Elie Wiesel Plead for UN Interv

By Peter Heinlein
Washignton
15 September 2006
 

George Clooney (left) and Elie Wiesel

Actor George Clooney and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel have met with the U.N. Security Council to plead for prompt action to save lives in Darfur. The Oscar-winning film star Clooney told an informal meeting of Security Council members that they will bear responsibility unless they act quickly to stop the killing¹ in Darfur.

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"My job is to come here today and to beg you on behalf of millions of people who will die, and make no mistake, they will die, for you to take real and effective measures to put an end to this," he said.

The appearance by Clooney and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel comes as an African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur is preparing to leave.

The mandate² of the seven-thousand strong force expires September 30th, and Sudan has rejected a Security Council resolution that would authorize³ 20-thousand U.N. peacekeepers in southern Sudan to take over in Darfur.

Clooney predicted mass slaughter⁴ if the September 30th deadline is allowed to pass without firm Council intervention⁵.

"So after September 30th, you won't need the U.N. You'll simply need men with shovels⁶ and bleached⁷ white linen⁸ and headstones. In many ways it's unfair, but it is nevertheless true that this genocide will be on your watch. How you deal with it will be your legacy," he said.

United Nations investigators⁹ have rejected the U.S. characterization of the killings¹⁰ in Darfur as genocide, saying it does not meet the strict legal definition of the term. But in an impassioned address, Clooney rejected the distinction.

"The United States called it genocide, for you it's called ethnic¹¹ cleansing¹². But make no mistake, it is the first genocide of 21st century. And if it continues unchecked, it will not be the last," he said.

In an equally powerful statement, Nobel laureate Wiesel reminded the Security Council of the world body's failure to act a decade ago in a similar situation in Rwanda.

"What was in Rwanda so terrible that the U.N. knew, and the U.N. let it happen. Sudan cannot bring back the dead, but it can restore a sense of honor to the United Nations," he said.

Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir has warned that a U.N. takeover of Darfur peacekeeping would violate Sudanese sovereignty. But Wiesel, a Holocaust¹³ survivor¹⁴, told Council members they have a moral duty under the U.N. Charter to act. "Do not wait for Sudan's invitation or consent. If they give it, good. If not, go in anyway. The criminal tormenters and assassins don't wait. Stop them. This is what the United Nations Charter authorizes¹⁵ and asks you to do, to intervene," he said.

The appearance by Clooney and Wiesel comes a day after Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the United Nations cannot afford to allow a Rwanda-like disaster in Darfur.

More than 200-thousand people have been killed and two million others displaced during three and a half years of brutal¹⁶ conflict in the vast western Sudanese region. An estimated three million Darfurians are dependent on international aid for food, shelter and health care.

Thursday's special informal Council meeting was arranged by the United States under a formula that allows ordinary citizens to address the body to raise issues of concern.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

3 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

4 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

5 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

6 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

7 bleached   

漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的

参考例句：

• His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的头发被太阳晒得发白。
• The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 阳光把她的黄裙子晒得褪色了。

8 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

9 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》

10 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

11 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

12 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

13 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

14 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

15 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

16 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。