VOA常速英语2008年-Alleged Congolese War Criminal Transferred to T

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
07 February 2008

A former Congolese Army colonel and rebel leader has been arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague where he is facing war crimes charges. From United Nations headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer reports the former rebel leader is also being charged with crimes against humanity.

Former rebel leader Mathieu Ngudjolo, 37, arrived at The Hague Thursday afternoon, following his arrest by Congolese authorities the day before in Kinshasa.

Bruno Catala, Registrar¹ of the International Criminal Court, says Ngudjolo, is accused of grave crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"He is alleged² to have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes as set out in Articles 7 and 8 of the statute³. The crimes are alleged to have been committed in the territory of the DRC since July 2002," he said.

According to the arrest warrant, those crimes include three counts of crimes against humanity, specifically murder, inhumane acts and sexual slavery, and six counts of war crimes, including using children as soldiers and intentionally⁴ directing attacks against civilian⁵ populations.

ICC prosecutors⁶ say these crimes are linked to the February 2003 attack on the village of Bogoro, in the territory of Ituri, which left more than 200 people dead, most of them of Hema ethnicity. Others were severely⁷ maimed and injured and women and girls were sexually enslaved.

Ngudjolo is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday.

He is the third person in the ICC's custody⁸. In October, Congolese authorities surrendered and transferred Germain Katanga, an alleged commander of the Patriotic⁹ Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI) - an ally of Ngudjolo. In March 2006, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the alleged founder¹⁰ and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots¹¹ (UPC) was also transferred to The Hague.

1 registrar   

n.记录员，登记员；(大学的)注册主任

参考例句：

• You can obtain the application from the registrar.你可以向注册人员索取申请书。
• The manager fired a young registrar.经理昨天解雇了一名年轻的记录员。

2 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

3 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

4 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。

5 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。

6 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

7 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。

8 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

9 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

10 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

11 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。