2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Warns of Punitive Steps If Sudan Refuses U

By David Gollust
United Nations
23 September 2006 

Denmark's Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller (left) and Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is warning Sudan the international community could take punitive¹ action against Khartoum if it continues to refuse to accept a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur. Rice and her Danish counterpart, Per Stig Moeller, convened³ a 20-nation meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Friday to try to build diplomatic pressure on Sudan.

-----

The meeting, which included among others U.N. Security Council member counties and Arab allies of Sudan, heard an appeal from Secretary Rice that time is running out for political action to head off a renewal⁴ of the kind of genocidal violence that ravaged⁵ Darfur two years ago.

The Sudanese government, citing threats to its sovereignty, has resisted compliance⁶ with a U.N. Security Council resolution approved last month that would replace the current seven thousand member African Union observer mission in Darfur with a full-scale U.N. peacekeeping mission three times as large.

In a talk with reporters after the Darfur meeting at a New York Hotel, Secretary Rice said no one intends to impinge on Sudan's sovereignty. But she said Sudan has not fulfilled its responsibility to protect the weakest in its society and so there will have to be a U.N. force.

Discussion at the U.N. of possible sanctions against Sudan, if it continues its defiance⁷ of the Darfur resolution, has made little headway. But without elaborating, Rice said there are various other measures available to punish Sudan, implicitly⁸ outside the United Nations framework. "There was a very clear indication by several speakers today that there are other measures at the disposal of the international community, should we not be able to get the agreement of Sudan in the way that we would like to get the agreement of Sudan, which is that they would accede⁹ to the desires of the international community to stop the violence and to stop the rape¹⁰ of women and children, and allow humanitarian¹¹ workers to work," she said.

Rice cited a new report by U.N. human rights monitors accusing Sudan's army of bombing Darfur villages, and reporting a new outbreak of sexual violence against displaced persons, activity she said that simply cannot continue.

The co-chair of the meeting, Rice's Danish counterpart Per Stig Moeller, insisted that international pressure on Sudan can succeed despite Khartoum's adamant¹² refusal thus far to accept the new force.

"It, of course, makes an impression (on Sudan) that every government, that all the world, is assembled in calling the situation unacceptable, the murders unacceptable. All countries in here find it unacceptable, Arab, African, Asian, European, America. This of course means something in Khartoum. Otherwise they will know that the world stands side-by-side to have other measures, if we cannot protect the people of Darfur through political means," he said.

Rice and Moeller said the same grouping would convene² again next month to assess progress, if any, on the issue. Time pressure for the peacekeeping upgrade in Darfur eased somewhat earlier this week when the African Union agreed to keep its force in Darfur until the end of the year, extending a mandate¹³ that was to have ended September 30th.

The A.U. mission has been under-funded and lacks the mobility¹⁴ to patrol the entire Darfur region. The remote, arid¹⁵ western region has been torn by violence since early 2003, when Arab militiamen backed by the Sudanese military began waging a scorched-earth campaign against local Darfur rebels.

More than 200-thousand people have died as a result of the conflict and more than two-million others have been displaced. Violence has continued, and even increased in recent months, despite a Darfur peace accord reached in Nigeria in May.

1 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

2 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

3 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

4 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

5 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

6 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

7 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

8 implicitly   

adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地

参考例句：

• Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
• I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想，我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧？

9 accede   

v.应允，同意

参考例句：

• They are ready to accede to our request for further information.我们要是还需要资料，他们乐于随时提供。
• In a word,he will not accede to your proposal in the meeting.总而言之，他不会在会中赞成你的提议。

10 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

11 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。

12 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

13 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。

14 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

15 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。