VOA标准英语2009年-Aid Groups Call on UN to Protect Civilians

By Selah Hennessy
London
13 October 2009
  
UN peacekeepers (R) pass a Rwandan Hutu rebel (L) as they patrol in FDLR rebel-held territory in eastern Congo (File)
Aid groups said Tuesday that the human cost of a UN-backed military operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is unacceptable. The Congo Advocacy Coalition¹ says operation Kimia II, which targets a Rwandan militia² group, is leading to deaths, rape³, and the destruction of homes throughout eastern DRC.

The coalition of 84 humanitarian⁴ and human rights groups says UN officials and diplomats⁵ have to do more to protect civilians⁷ in DRC.

Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher at the Britain based aid group Human Rights Watch, says satellite imagery has been collected that shows widespread destruction of entire villages since the operation began.

"These satellite images are really hard hitting and show that village after village in eastern Congo has been completely destroyed. In many of these places not a single house is left standing," she said.

The Congolese government is fighting against a militia group from neighboring Rwanda, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR.

According to UN statistics, over 1,000 FDLR fighters have given up their arms and repatriated⁸ to Rwanda since the operation began in January.

 
3 FDLR soldiers surrendering to the Congolese army are watched by Congolese soldiers near Goma, DRC (File)
But the Congo Advocacy Coalition says for every combatant that has been disarmed⁹, one civilian⁶ has been killed, seven women and girls raped¹⁰, six houses destroyed, and 900 people forced to flee their homes.

Van Woudenberg says much of the abuse is carried out by FDLR militia who are deliberately¹¹ targeting civilians. But she says government troops are also guilty of violent attacks against civilians.

"Certainly soldiers of the Congolese army are committing widespread abuse," she said. "They are responsible for many of the rapes¹² that are occurring in eastern Congo, they themselves are also burning villages and homes on a widespread basis and of course are carrying out looting which always happens during military operations," she added.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, has been backing the Congolese army in this military operation since March. UN peacekeepers provide tactical expertise¹⁴, transport and aviation support, food rations¹³, fuel and medical support to Congolese army soldiers. The cost to the UN is over $6 million.

Van Woudenberg says questions need to be answered about whether the UN should be supporting a military operation that has such high human costs.

"Should UN peacekeepers indeed be supporting what is clearly a very abusive military operation, a very abusive army and that is the question we are raising. We believe that UN peacekeepers have got to ensure that there are conditions on their support," she said.

Stephen Carter is an independent Africa specialist based in London. He says the United Nations is crucial to ousting¹⁵ FDLR fighters from eastern Congo.

 
Father Samuel (L) holds the hand and face of a rape victim as they pray moments after the young Congolese woman underwent surgery to repair physical damage suffered while being raped (File)
 
"They are after all a group that has a history of very serious crimes against civilians and a very unpleasant ideology¹⁶. So I think action has to be taken against them," he said.

He says without the support of the United Nations, the Congolese government may not be able to get the job done.

"They can't leave it up to the Congolese army on its own because the Congolese army is unlikely to be effective on past form against the FDLR," he explained. "And also, without any outside support we'll have, you know, very little restraint on the way it conducts its operations," he added.

He says one argument is that the United Nations should play a stronger role to ensure that the military operation is successful. But he says what the UN really needs to do is look at broader issues.

"I think actually the more interesting question is whether there is more that can be done in the wider picture to look at the underlying¹⁷ issues -- the forces of funding for the FDLR, their control over natural resources and mines in eastern DRC and also whether there are ways of negotiating an end to the conflict without having to defeat them militarily, which is very difficult," Carter said.

According to the Congo Advocacy Coalition, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed since the Kimia II military operation began. A further 7,000 women and children have been raped and more than 6,000 homes burned down.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 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。

3 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

4 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。

5 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 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。

8 repatriated   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The refugees were forcibly repatriated. 难民被强制遣送回国。
• Ancient artworks were repatriated from the US to Greece. 古代艺术品从美国遣送回希腊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 disarmed   

v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The swordsman disarmed his opponent and ran him through. 剑客缴了对手的械，并对其乱刺一气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

11 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

12 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

13 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

14 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

15 ousting   

驱逐( oust的现在分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• The resulting financial chaos led to the ousting of Bristol-Myers' s boss. 随后引发的财政混乱导致了百时美施贵宝的总裁下台。
• The ousting of the president has drawn widespread criticism across Latin America and the wider world. 洪都拉斯总统被驱逐时间引起拉丁美洲甚至全世界的广泛批评。

16 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

17 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。