voa标准英语2008-UN Envoy Chides Congo Rebels for Lack of Progres

Talks between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and a rebel faction¹ taking place in Nairobi have encountered difficulties, with U.N. Special Envoy² Olusegun Obasanjo placing most of the blame on the rebel delegation³. The rebel group, led by Laurent Nkunda, was also accused by Human Rights Watch of massacring 150 civilians⁴ in a town in eastern Congo in early November.

Delegations⁵ from the Congolese government and the rebel National Congress for People's Defense⁶ have been meeting in Nairobi since Monday, in an effort to halt the latest round of fighting in eastern Congo.
　

Olusegun Obasanjo gives a press briefing in Nairobi, 10 Dec 2008

So far the talks have only included preliminary discussions on setting up a framework for further negotiations⁷. But late Wednesday, the U.N.'s Special Envoy to the conflict in Congo, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, said progress was going more slowly than he would like, singling out Laurent Nkunda's CNDP rebels for the most criticism.

"Progress has been slower than desired because the power given to the CNDP delegation by its leadership appears to have severely⁸ limited its ability to make decisions on matters of concern without continuous recourse to its leadership in North Kivu," he said.

He said the rebel group should either give its delegation more authority, or send another representative. Obasanjo also said the rebel demands were too broad for the current talks, which are focused on eastern Congo.

"The CNDP continues to demand discussions on what it sees as challenges facing the country as a whole," he said. "Not just the ongoing⁹ conflict and humanitarian¹⁰ emergency in the eastern DRC."

Obasanjo said the talks have not collapsed¹¹, but that he was dispatching a delegation to North Kivu province to meet with Nkunda.

Nkunda's rebels are also the target of a new report by the organization Human Rights Watch that details a massacre¹² of at least 150 civilians in the eastern Congolese town of Kiwanja in early November. The report said most of the victims were killed by Nkunda's forces, though some were killed by the Mai Mai militia¹³ which has tended to ally with the government. According to the report, most of those killed were men and teenage boys who the rebels accused of being Mai Mai members.

The organization also highlighted the incapacity of U.N. peacekeepers in the area to halt the fighting. U.N. soldiers were at a base less than a kilometer away, but did not act to protect the town. Stretched thin, and facing logistical difficulties, the peacekeepers focused on protecting civilians who had fled to the base, and on evacuating¹⁴ aid workers. An official with the mission said the peacekeepers were unaware¹⁵ of the massacre while it was happening.

Human Rights Watch says both the CNDP and the Mai Mai continue to commit crimes against civilians in the region, including rapes¹⁶ and recruiting child soldiers. The group called for the European Union to approve the deployment¹⁷ of a temporary force for the region until U.N. peacekeeping reinforcements arrive.

Meanwhile, a draft U.N. report has accused both the DRC and neighboring Rwanda of backing rebel factions¹⁸ in eastern Congo. The report, which is set to be presented to the U.N. Security Council in coming days, reinforces widespread claims that the government of Rwanda has been providing assistance to the CNDP, including providing equipment and helping¹⁹ to recruit fighters. The report also says the Congolese government has backed the Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia.

Both Congo and Rwanda have denied direct backing for militias²⁰ in eastern Congo. In recent days Congolese officials have threatened to pursue the FDLR.

1 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

4 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。

5 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 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。

8 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 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。

11 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

12 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

13 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。

14 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

15 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

16 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

17 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。

18 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

19 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

20 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