2006年VOA标准英语-ICRC Asks to Visit Chechen Prisoners

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
27 June 2006
 

Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross  
  
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, is calling for Russian President Vladimir Putin to let the Red Cross resume visits to Chechen detainees.  The Red Cross president has not yet received a reply to a letter he sent to Mr. Putin two weeks ago.

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It is unusual for the normally discreet¹ organization to make public the contents of such an official correspondence.   ICRC deputy head of Operations for Eastern Europe, Jerome Sorg, tells VOA the press release was not issued to put pressure on the Russian authorities.  He says it is just another way of communicating the gravity of the situation.

Sorg says an agreement was reached in 2000 between the ICRC and Russian Federation² that allowed Red Cross delegates to visit Chechen detainees.  But, he says the Red Cross suspended these visits at the end of 2004 because there were too many obstacles to conducting them properly. 

"At one point, we were not able to have individual interviews with some detainees," he said.  "So, then we would negotiate and the next time it is going well.  But, at that time, you could not have access to all places of detention³ that you would like to have.  This is something we face in a lot of different contexts, but when we have too many problems and these problems are too frequent, then we consider that we are not able to go on with our activities in a satisfactory manner." 

Sorg says the Red Cross conducts visits to detainees on the basis of four universal criteria⁴.  He says delegates must be given access to all detainees, must be allowed to visit all places of detention, must be able to conduct individual interviews with prisoners, and be granted repeat visits.

Between May 2000 and September 2004 when the visits were suspended, he says Red Cross workers had registered more than 3,200 Chechen detainees.

But Sorg says this number is low, because there were many detention centers in the north Caucuses⁵ and other areas of the Russian Federation to which the ICRC did not have access.

"When we visit detainees, we register them and then we follow them," he added.  "So if they move from one place of detention to another place of detention, we have the possibility to visit them again and to follow them.  So, of course, this is a means to avoid that these people will disappear."

The ICRC has been in discussion with Russian authorities for two years on resuming its visits to detainees.  It says it regrets these negotiations⁶ have failed.

In his letter to Russian President Putin, the ICRC president, Jakob Kellenberger offers to go to Moscow to discuss the future of cooperation between Russia and the ICRC.

1 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

2 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

4 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

5 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。