2006年VOA标准英语-US Says Action Near to Shift Taylor Trial

By David Gollust
Washington
06 April 2006
 
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Thursday, the U.N. Security Council is close to adopting a resolution moving the war crimes case of former Liberian President Charles Taylor from Sierra Leone to The Hague. He says the action could come by the end of the week.

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The United States was quick to endorse¹ the request by the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal for Sierre Leone to move the Charles Taylor case to The Hague because of security considerations.

John Bolton   
  
Ambassador Bolton, who has had a lead role in consultations² for an enabling resolution, told State Department reporters he thinks a Security Council decision is imminent³.

"I am hoping that we will have a Security Council resolution this week that effects the transfer of Taylor to The Hague, and sets up the arrangements, whereby the special court in Sierra Leone will be able to prosecute⁴ him there. I think, we are very close, as I said. I would hope by the end of this week, we would have that resolved," he said.

The former Liberian president faces 11 counts of war crimes charges for supporting the brutal⁵ rebel movement in Sierra Leone that raped⁶ and mutilated civilians⁷ during a 10-year civil conflict that left some 50,000 people dead.

The Sierra Leone tribunal asked for the venue⁸ change last week, citing fears the trial might spark unrest in Sierra Leone, or neighboring Liberia. Despite the move, the trial would remain under the jurisdiction⁹ of the African court.

Charles Taylor at Special Court in Freetown, April 3, 2006   
  
Taylor, who was arrested in late March after an attempt to flee Nigeria, where he had been given temporary refuge, made his first appearance before the court in Freetown Monday. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges, while also challenging the legality of the tribunal.

On another African issue, Ambassador Bolton said the United States is actively¹⁰ investigating a "substantial number" of persons who may be responsible for crimes in Sudan's western Darfur region and subject to sanctions by the U.N. Security Council.

But he said there should be solid evidence for such a designation, otherwise, the credibility of the U.N. would suffer.

Bolton made the comment in response to a question about news reports Wednesday that the United States had opposed the inclusion of several Sudanese government officials on a list of sanction candidates proposed by Britain.

The ambassador did not respond to specifics of the reports, but said the United States is working on a sanctions list with Britain, among others, and wants to be sure of the facts in each case.

"As we have gone back and forth¹¹ with some other governments, the British in particular, we are looking at the evidence that we have, and we are looking at the evidence they have. And when it's sufficient for us to make a decision, we are prepared to move forward. We are eager to move forward. It has been a year since this sanctions provision was created. It has not yet been exercised. We think it should be exercised. We just want to make sure we have the facts straight," he said.

Bolton indicated that the sanctions list could include figures from the Sudanese government, the Arab "Janjaweed" militiamen, who have waged war in Darfur on the government's behalf, and Darfur rebels. All of them, at various times, have been accused of atrocities¹² in the three-year-old Darfur conflict.

The U.N. envoy¹³ said, while the process of identifying individual war crimes figures has been slowed by bureaucratic¹⁴ issues, he said the Bush administration knows what the "big picture" is on the violence in Darfur.

That is why, he said, it is pushing hard for the transformation¹⁵ of the African Union observer force in Darfur into a full-fledged U.N. peacekeeping operation.

1 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

2 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

4 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 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

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 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

9 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。

10 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

14 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

15 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。