VOA标准英语2009年-S. African President Urged to Honor ICC Wa

Prominent South African individuals and civil society groups have urged President Jacob Zuma to publicly state that he respects the country's constitution and treaty obligations. The call follows an African Union decision not to honor the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.
　
South Africa President Jacob Zuma (file)

The call on President Zuma comes from 17 of the country's prominent civil society groups, including the constitutionally mandated¹ Human Rights Commission. Individuals supporting the call include Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu and Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor² of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

In a statement, the organizations and individuals said the decision by the African Union to withhold³ cooperation from the ICC with respect to the warrant for Mr. al-Bashir represents the most serious challenge to the struggle against impunity⁴ and lawlessness on the African continent.

Howard Varney, from Cape⁵ Town's International Center for Transitional Justice tells VOA that Mr. Zuma and his foreign minister did not voice any objection to the AU decision. Varney says Mr. Zuma's legal obligations are plain.

"This is to make the position of civil society, or at least many prominent organizations within civil society, to make our position clear that we expect our government and President Jacob Zuma to abide⁶ by the treaty obligations that South Africa has entered into, but not only the treaty obligations but also our own constitution which requires us to abide by international law, which in fact in relation to the Rome Statute⁷ we have incorporated the enabling statute of the International Criminal Court into our domestic law," he said.
　
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (File)

Varney says if Mr. Zuma fails to publicly state his willingness to cooperate with the ICC and if Mr. al-Bashir enters South African territory, he will be sending a message that for him and his government the rule of law is a matter of expediency⁸.

"And if on one day one can decide to abide by the law, and on another decide it is no longer suitable or convenient for us to do so, it certainly, and I believe fundamentally, undermines our commitment to the rule of law and sends out the wrong message to those who are breaking the law," said Varney.

Some African leaders, including Ghanaian President John Atta Mills have argued that Mr. al-Bashir is central to the peace process in Sudan, which would likely collapse⁹ if he were arrested. Varney disagrees.

"We do not believe it is. If it in fact was, and relevant supporting information had been put to the Security Council, then I am sure the Security Council would have considered that and invoked¹⁰ Article 16 of their own statute, which allows for the referral that the Mbeki panel of the AU have called for," he said. "Certain information that is emerging from Sudan is that al-Bashir himself does not necessarily make or break the agreement."

Many African countries played a crucial role in the establishment of the ICC, which they saw as a way to combat genocide and crimes against humanity on the continent. Thirty African countries have signed the so-called Rome Statute to become State Parties to the Court, and most cases referred to the court for investigation¹¹ have been referred by African countries.

1 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

2 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。

3 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

4 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

5 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

6 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

7 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。

8 expediency   

n.适宜；方便；合算；利己

参考例句：

• The government is torn between principle and expediency. 政府在原则与权宜之间难于抉择。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was difficult to strike the right balance between justice and expediency. 在公正与私利之间很难两全。 来自辞典例句

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。