2006年VOA标准英语-Activists in US Rally for Peace in Darfur as An

By Catherine Maddux
Washington
20 June 2006

Demonstrators stage protest over Darfur in front of White House   
  
Activists¹ held rallies in several cities across the United States Tuesday to call for peace in Sudan's western Darfur region. Meanwhile, experts gathered to discuss continuing roadblocks to implement² a peace deal signed by the Sudanese government and one rebel group in May.

------------------

As people rallied near the White House for strong U.S. action to stop the war in Darfur, a panel of experts gathered across town to discuss the crisis.

Kenneth Bacon, a former assistant secretary of defense³ and president of Refugees International, describes the current situation in Darfur as a series of paradoxes⁴. "We have made a very large diplomatic and humanitarian⁶ investment. And yet the diplomatic efforts have produced a peace agreement and yet the peace agreement has not brought peace. In fact, the situation has gotten worse in many respects," he said.

Bacon emphasized the situation has deteriorated⁷ rather than improved ever since the signing of the peace deal on May 5 in Abuja, Nigeria. He called the agreement imperfect and only a starting point. "We've actually had a deterioration⁸ of humanitarian conditions for two reasons: one, the World Food Program does not have enough money. It announced it was cutting rations¹⁰ in half. It got some more money and food after it made its announcement. It's now providing 84 percent of its ration⁹ goal this month ... but it's unclear what it's going to be able to do for the rest of the year. Second, the delivery of humanitarian materials has gotten much more difficult in vast parts of Darfur because the security has declined," he said.

While Bacon praised the strong diplomatic intervention¹¹ by the United States government, he called on the audience to press for more action to protect civilians¹², stop the killing¹³ and end the war. "We have to be more involved. Nothing has happened here without U.S. involvement. U.S. involvement is crucial to making progress here," he said.

There has been some movement toward approving a United Nations peacekeeping force to augment¹⁴ the beleaguered¹⁵ and underfunded African Union operation already on the ground in Darfur. But the U.N. cannot deploy¹⁶ a single soldier until the Sudanese government agrees to such a force, something Khartoum rejects.

Tuesday, Sudanese state media reported that President Omar al-Bashir vowed¹⁷ he will never allow U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur, saying his country would not be "recolonized."

Nurradin Mannan, a retired¹⁸ Sudanese diplomat⁵, said Khartoum is afraid of a Chapter Seven mandate¹⁹ that would accompany such a U.N. operation, a mandate that has the power to use armed force to protect civilians and to confront combatants accused of committing atrocities²⁰. "These people are worried about chapter seven because this is going to drag them to the International Criminal Court. There are 51 [people] accused of war crimes in Sudan and this will give the U.N. the power, the right, to investigate those who are accused," he said.

Ann-Louise Colgan, the acting²¹ co-executive director for the group which organized Tuesday's rallies, Africa Action. She says following the signing of the Darfur accord in Abuja last month, there was a sense of optimism. But she echoed her co-panelists, saying the deal is now clearly unraveling. And she criticized the United States and the international community for not working harder to protect civilians and humanitarian workers. "We have heard from the U.S. a lot of rhetorical commitment to standing²² by what happened in Abuja and to protecting the people of Darfur and ensuring that peace takes hold in the region. We've also seen some action on the part of the United Nations. But there really has not been sufficient concrete actions to address this deteriorating²³ security situation on the ground," she said.

Even though the situation in Darfur has worsened, Ms. Colgan says she remains²⁴ hopeful. "We have this poster in our conference room at Africa Action and it has this anonymous²⁵ quote on it. And the quote simply says 'you have no idea how many lives can be saved if you end the violence one month earlier,' " she said.

But as analysts²⁶ discuss and activists try to apply pressure, an estimated two million people in Darfur are displaced, living in vast camps. And more than 180,000 others have been killed over the course of three years of conflict.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

3 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。

4 paradoxes   

n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况]

参考例句：

• Contradictions and paradoxes arose in increasing numbers. 矛盾和悖论越来越多。 来自辞典例句
• As far as these paradoxes are concerned, the garden definitely a heterotopia. 就这些吊诡性而言，花园无疑地是个异质空间。 来自互联网

5 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

8 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

9 ration   

n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应

参考例句：

• The country cut the bread ration last year.那个国家去年削减面包配给量。
• We have to ration the water.我们必须限量用水。

10 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

11 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

12 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。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

15 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

17 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

18 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

19 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。

20 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》

21 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。

22 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

23 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

24 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

25 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

26 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。