VOA常速英语2007-Congo Peace Imperiled by Armed Groups in East

By Noel King
Kigali
19 October 2007

Congo's 2006 democratic elections were intended to usher¹ in a new era of peace in the once war-torn nation. And while improvements have been seen in certain areas across the vast country, holdout armed groups in the east pose a serious threat to Congo's emerging democracy. Noel King has more in this report from Kigali.

 

Congo's government says the solution to chronic² violence in the east is the formal integration³ of Congo's numerous armed groups into the regular army.

 

Congo's armed forces are badly demoralized and undisciplined. Soldiers say they are poorly paid and sometimes not paid at all.

 

A stronger army would be charged with disarming⁴ holdout militias⁵ and ridding the region of Hutu militias known as the FDLR.

 

Original members of the FDLR were allegedly among the perpetrators of neighboring Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slain⁶ by Hutu militias.

 

Routed by the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic⁷ Front, Hutu militias poured into neighboring Congo, where they continued attacks on eastern Congo's Tutsi population.

 

The FDLR, however, tells a different story.

 

Leaders say they are merely displaced Rwandans, who have been forbidden to return to their country because they are ethnic⁸ Hutus.

 

Bravo Jean Bernard is the leader of the FDLR in Masisi area. Jean Bernard says the FDLR represents the people forced out of Rwanda and that they just want to go home. He says they can't go home because Rwandan President Paul Kagame forced them out. He says they have no links to the Rwandan genocide.

 

Jean Bernard denied Rwandan claims that the FDLR plans to launch attacks against Rwanda. He says the FDLR wants to react strongly against Kagame's government but they don't want to act militarily, they want to act politically. He says he cannot discuss any plans in detail because they are a strategic secret.

 

Neighboring Rwanda wants to see the FDLR neutralized⁹.

 

Observers say Rwanda is supporting, with arms and troops, the rebellion of Laurent Nkunda, a media-savvy ethnic Tutsi who has styled himself as a protector of Congo's Tutsi population.

 

Rwanda strongly denies that it has given arms to Nkunda but President Paul Kagame says the rebel leader has legitimate¹⁰ grievances¹¹.

 

Rene Abanzi, a spokesman for Nkunda says the rebels have no interest in continuing the conflict in Congo.

 

"Our vision is to defend people. We didn't decide to [take] out the Kabila regime," he said. "We decided¹² only to defend our people from genocide."

 

But analysts¹⁴ say Nkunda has the backing of some powerful people in the region, whose interests do not necessarily include protecting Tutsis.

 

Jason Stearns is an independent political analyst¹³ in the region. Stearns says Nkunda's rebellion can be traced to the defeat of former Rwandan-backed rebels called the Congolese Rally for Democracy, or RCD, who controlled North Kivu until Congo's 2006 election.

 

Unpopular with many Congolese, the RCD was voted out of power.

 

Nkunda's emergence¹⁵ as a rebel leader has a lot to do with the collapse¹⁶ of the RCD," he said. "Many of the politicians and economic leaders in North Kivu who had developed substantial political and economic interests in the region during the war, backed Nkunda either explicitly¹⁷ or behind the scenes as an alternative to the political process that, they saw, did not really guarantee them any rights whatsoever¹⁸.

 

Another group, the Coalition¹⁹ of Patriots²⁰ in the Congolese Resistance, or PARECO, calls itself the emerging political wing of the Mai Mai militias.

 

Congo's Mai Mai are community-based armed groups. During Congo's 1998-2003 war, the Mai Mai resisted occupation by invading Rwandan troops. Since the end of the war, Mai Mai groups have splintered and formed new alliances, and are accused of banditry throughout the region.

 

PARECO is yet another group that has refused to go to be integrated into the regular army, a process known locally as brassage.

 

Daniel Baloume is PARECO's number two official in Masisi. He says PARECO accepts to go to brassage, but Nkunda's troops have to go also. He says they will not go until Nkunda goes first. He says they fear the Congolese army cannot defeat Nkunda, and that is why they will not join.

 

Both the FDLR and PARECO deny that they are backing Congo's army to fight Nkunda's rebellion.

 

But at a hospital in Masisi, VOA met members of both groups who were suffering from gunshot wounds. Leaders of both FDLR and PARECO said the wounds had not been sustained in battle, but declined to elaborate further.

 

While all armed groups claim to be operating on patriotic or idealistic grounds, there is a strong economic component²¹ to their resistance.

 

Eastern Congo is rich in minerals including gold, diamonds and casseterite, a valuable ore used in electronics.

Oil was also recently discovered beneath Lake Albert which straddles Congo's border with Uganda.

 

Congo's mining industry is notoriously disorganized and many say that anarchic violence allows warlords and the armed groups at their command, to strip the region of its resources.

1 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

2 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

3 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

4 disarming   

adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下，让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

7 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 neutralized   

v.使失效( neutralize的过去式和过去分词 )；抵消；中和；使（一个国家）中立化

参考例句：

• Acidity in soil can be neutralized by spreading lime on it. 土壤的酸性可以通过在它上面撒石灰来中和。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This strategy effectively neutralized what the Conservatives had hoped would be a vote-winner. 这一策略有效地冲淡了保守党希望在选举中获胜的心态。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

11 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

14 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。

15 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

16 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

17 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

18 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

19 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

20 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

21 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。