2006年VOA标准英语-Liberia Wants African Decision on Taylor

By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
17 March 2006

Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is asking African leaders to decide whether to bring former President Charles Taylor to trial on war crimes charges.  Mrs. Sirleaf was speaking at the United Nations, where she addressed the Security Council. 

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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
  

As she entered the Security Council chamber¹ Friday, Mrs. Sirleaf said "it is time to bring the Taylor issue to closure."  She told reporters she had asked Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to reach a collective decision of African leaders on whether to hand Taylor over to a war crimes tribunal.

"He is now consulting with the African leadership to achieve that objective," she said.  "If the collective decision of the African leadership is that Mr. Taylor, in bringing this to closure should go to the courts, then that will be the decision that will be taken collectively."

Moments later, the Liberian leader told the Security Council it is time to address what she called "issues from our painful past, including impunity," so her country could move ahead.  

 
Charles Taylor (2003 file photo)
  
Taylor has been living in exile in Nigeria since he was forced from power in 2003. He has since been indicted² for war crimes by a court in Sierra Leone for his role in that country's civil war. He has repeatedly denied the charges, calling himself a scapegoat³.

President Obasanjo previously⁴ said Nigeria would turn Taylor over to an elected Liberian government, but not to the court. In her remarks to the Security Council Friday, President Sirleaf suggested that now is the time to settle the matter.

"I've asked the president of Nigeria to consult with colleagues in the sub-region and the international community on the resolution of this issue in conformity⁵ with the requirements of the United Nations and the international community," she added.  "I have also asked that as we bring this matter to closure, we ensure that in any proceedings⁶ there is an environment that protects all, including the accused, fundamental human rights."

Human rights groups have long been calling for Taylor's extradition⁷. Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch Friday urged African leaders to comply with the Liberian request.

"Charles Taylor, more than any single individual, is associated with policies that have meant murder and mayhem for countless⁸, tens of thousands of people across West Africa," he noted⁹.  "Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and even Cote d'Ivoire.  This man needs to be brought to trial. A fair trial.  And because there is a U.N. Sierra Leone court in Freetown, President Obasanjo needs to step up to the plate and comply with the request that has been made to him to surrender Taylor."

Taylor plunged¹⁰ Liberia into civil war in 1989, as the head of a band that invaded from Ivory Coast. He was elected president in 1997 during a lull¹¹ in the fighting.

He is accused of crimes against humanity for aiding an insurgency¹² in Sierra Leone during his years in office.

A Taylor spokesman said earlier this week that the terms of his asylum¹³ in Nigeria would rule out the possibility of a trial. The spokesman accused the United States of seeking to persecute¹⁴ African leaders though the use of hybrid¹⁵ courts.

1 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

2 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

3 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 conformity   

n.一致，遵从，顺从

参考例句：

• Was his action in conformity with the law?他的行动是否合法？
• The plan was made in conformity with his views.计划仍按他的意见制定。

6 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

7 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

8 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

9 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。

10 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

11 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

12 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

13 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

14 persecute   

vt.迫害，虐待；纠缠，骚扰

参考例句：

• They persecute those who do not conform to their ideas.他们迫害那些不信奉他们思想的人。
• Hitler's undisguised effort to persecute the Jews met with worldwide condemnation.希特勒对犹太人的露骨迫害行为遭到世界人民的谴责。

15 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。