2007年VOA标准英语-Prosecutor Asks UN To Help Bring Darfur War Cri

By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
07 June 2007

The prosecutor¹ of the International Criminal Court is asking the U.N. Security Council to pressure Sudan to hand over two Darfur war crimes suspects for trial. From U.N. headquarters, VOA's Peter Heinlein reports one of the suspects is a serving Sudanese cabinet minister.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo (file photo)

ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo Thursday described Sudan's Humanitarian² Affairs Minister Ahmad Muhammad Harun and the government-backed Janjaweed militia³ leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman - known as Ali Kushayb - as the masterminds of a campaign of terror in Darfur.

Charges pending⁴ against the men at the international court in The Hague cover the period 2003 and 2004, when Harun was Sudan's Interior Minister.

Moreno-Ocampo called on the Security Council to take the lead in bringing the pair to justice. He noted⁵ that Sudan has taken no action to prosecute⁶ the case, even though ICC judges ruled in April that there is sufficient evidence to try both men for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

"The prosecution's case is concerned with Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb joining together as part of a systematic⁷ and organized initiative to attack civilian⁸ populations in Darfur," said Luis Moreno-Ocampo. "There is no investigation⁹ in the Sudan into such criminal conduct."

Sudanese authorities have repeatedly said they would not turn over the two men for trial. But Moreno-Ocampo expressed satisfaction that Security Council ambassadors would be raising the issue with Sudanese leaders next week during an official visit to Khartoum.

One of those envoys¹⁰ making the trip, America's U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned Sudan of further sanctions unless it promptly¹¹ accepts deployment¹² of a joint¹³ U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. Khalilzad says the penalties being considered include a prohibition¹⁴ of all Sudanese military flights to Darfur.

"If the Sudanese don't come to an agreement quickly, we intend to push for more multilateral sanctions," said Zalmay Khalilzad. "We are already discussing that with our British colleagues and others, so the steps we have to consider will include imposition of no-fly zone over Darfur. Time is running out."

President Bush also discussed sanctions against Sudan Thursday with his British counterpart, Prime Minister Tony Blair, on the sidelines of the G-Eight summit in Germany. Noting the slow pace of Security Council diplomacy¹⁵ on Darfur, Mr. Bush said he would push other nations to impose unilateral sanctions against Khartoum if the United Nations fails to do so.

The Bush administration tightened¹⁶ its own sanctions against Sudan last week in an effort to persuade the Khartoum government to end the violence in Darfur.

Western experts say more than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and at least two million others forced from their homes since 2003. Khartoum, however, disputes those estimates, saying the actual death toll¹⁷ is far lower.

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 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。

3 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。

4 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

5 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。

6 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

7 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

11 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

12 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

15 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

16 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

17 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。