2006年VOA标准英语-Ghana Denies Violating Ban on Ivory Coast Diamo

By Efam Dovi
Accra
11 October 2006

Ghana is denying a United Nations report saying that conflict diamonds from rebel-controlled areas of Ivory Coast are being smuggled¹ into the West African nation. The report, expected to be submitted to the U.N. Security Council this week, says the authorities in Ghana have failed to stop diamonds from neighboring Ivory Coast from entering the country's export chains. 

 

The U.N. report says Ivorian diamonds are still being sold on the international market, in breach² of a U.N. ban imposed almost a year ago.

 

sifter3 to find a diamond stone, in Tortya, Ivory Coast " hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070504/0901240.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

People look into their sifter to find a diamond stone, in Tortya, Ivory Coast

According to the report, diamonds from rebel-held towns in the Ivory Coast are being smuggled into Ghana for export, which is illegal under the U.N.- imposed ban.

 

The U.N. Security Council imposed the diamond embargo⁴ on Ivory Coast in a bid to keep the rebel-held north from profiting from the gems⁵.

 

Ghana, a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, faces a possible ban on its rough diamond exports when the council discusses so-called blood diamonds later this week. Blood diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds, are diamonds mined in war zones that are then sold, usually clandestinely⁶, to finance the fighting.

 

Ghana is also subject to the Kimberley Process, an international initiative started in 2002 to prevent the sale of "conflict diamonds" used to fund wars in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Aristotle Kotey, the managing director of Precious Minerals Company Limited, the government agency in Ghana that supervises trade in diamonds and gold, says the U.N. report is wrong.

 

"It is inaccurate⁷ to say that conflict diamonds are being exported through Ghana. We pre-inspect all the parcels that are shipped out of Ghana, and we are sure that they do not contain conflict diamonds," he said.

 

Between 2000 and 2005, Ghana's diamond export levels increased by 210 percent.

 

Susie Sanders, a campaigner for Global Witness in London, an international association that focuses on the links between the exploitation of natural resources and the funding of conflict and corruption⁸, says her organization and others that want to end the sales of blood diamonds are asking that restrictions⁹ on diamond smuggling¹⁰ get tighter.

 

"So we are [demanding] for the Kimberley Process to become much stronger to make sure, countries like Ghana that neighbors Cote D'Ivoire, and has been accused of certifying¹¹ conflict diamonds from Ivory Coast and exporting them, to make sure that those countries' governments have stronger control systems in place, to make sure that they aren't exporting neighboring countries' conflict diamonds," she noted¹².

In Ghana itself, organizations are calling on the government to take action so that the country is no longer accused of trading in blood diamonds.

 

Though the official of Ghana's Precious Minerals Company has commented on the U.N. report, the country's ministries¹³ of foreign affairs and mines have yet to say anything about it.

1 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

2 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

3 sifter   

n.（用于筛撒粉状食物的）筛具，撒粉器；滤器；罗圈；罗

参考例句：

• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This paper deals with a nitempering process of sifter mesh. 研究了一种筛片的软氮化工艺。 来自互联网

4 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

5 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

6 clandestinely   

adv.秘密地，暗中地

参考例句：

• You should do your competing clandestinely, by disguising your export volumes and prices somehow. 你应该设法隐瞒出口数量和价格，暗中进行竞争。 来自辞典例句
• Darlington. Stevens's angst is clandestinely disclosed while he makes contact with other people. 就在史帝文斯与他人接触的当下，透露出一种不可言喻的焦虑气氛。 来自互联网

7 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

10 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

11 certifying   

（尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书

参考例句：

• Signed Commercial in quintuplicate, certifying merchandise to be of Chinese origin. 签署商业发票一式五份，证明产品的原产地为中国。
• Other documents certifying the truthfulness of the contents of the advertisements. （三）确认广告内容真实性的其他证明文件。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。