VOA标准英语2013--As Ruto Trial Resumes, Kenya Debates ICC Future

 

As Ruto Trial Resumes, Kenya Debates ICC Future 

NAIROBI — Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto is back at his trial at the International Criminal Court after returning to Kenya following the Westgate mall attack. Kenyans remain divided on whether the court is acting¹ in the interest of the country, as lawmakers move to withdraw the country from the court’s jurisdiction².

Nairobi’s so-called "people’s parliament" meets every day in the city’s parks to discuss matters of national interest.

High on the agenda is the resumption of the ICC case against Deputy President William Ruto, for his alleged³ role in the violence that followed the 2007 election.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is due at the ICC in November to face similar charges.

Members of this informal group have mixed opinions about the role of the court.

Salim Muganga is among those who think the ICC is a useful institution for finding reconciliation⁴.

“ICC is about truth and justice.  Simple and clear.  We are here to stay in ICC because we have to know more about truth and justice, what happened in 2008,” he said.

Or has the court outlived its purpose?  That’s what Wilberforce Onyango believes.

“The reason we had to go to ICC at that time was because our judicial⁵ system was not competent enough.  But now that we have a constitution with a clear provision creating a supreme⁶ court with a mandate⁷ similar to that of the ICC -- the need for Kenya to continue being a member has already been overtaken,” said Onyango.

The case against Ruto was briefly⁸ suspended to allow him to deal the terrorist attack on a Nairobi shopping mall.

The crisis highlighted concerns about the president and the deputy’s ability to effectively govern while having to appear regularly at The Hague.

While they have pledged to cooperate, their administration has been pushing for the court to drop the case against them, or to refer it back to Kenya.

Attorney General Githu Muigai said even if lawmakers vote to withdraw Kenya from the ICC, it will not affect the cases against Kenyatta and Ruto.

“So it has nothing, I assume, to do with the present cases at all.  In those cases, the persons involved have declared openly, several times, that they will continue to work with the court until the cases are resolved,” he explained.

In a new twist, the ICC prosecutor⁹ unsealed an arrest warrant this week for former Kenyan journalist Walter Barasa, accused of bribing¹⁰ witnesses in the Ruto case.

Professor Edward Kisiang’ani at Kenyatta University in Kenya said the new charges could be damaging to Ruto’s defense¹¹.

“If it is, for example, discovered that Barasa was doing something with the knowledge of the deputy president or people close to the deputy president, then you know, a new case could be opened,” he said.

The country is still waiting to see whether Kenyan judges will act on the arrest warrant for Barasa.

That decision will be a key test of the country’s willingness to continue to cooperate with the ICC. 

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

3 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

4 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

5 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

9 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。

10 bribing   

贿赂

参考例句：

• He tried to escape by bribing the guard. 他企图贿赂警卫而逃走。
• Always a new way of bribing unknown and maybe nonexistent forces. 总是用诸如此类的新方法来讨好那不知名的、甚或根本不存在的魔力。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

11 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。