2007年VOA标准英语-West Africa Experts Praise War Crimes Trial Des

By Selah Hennessy
Dakar
04 June 2007

The former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, has boycotted² the first day of his war crimes trial in The Hague, saying he does not believe the proceedings³ will be fair. Mr. Taylor still has supporters in Liberia who are opposed to the trial, but analysts⁴ say they believe the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, which will conduct the trial, is a fair and efficient tribunal. Selah Hennessy has more from the VOA West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Charles Taylor (2006 file photo)

In Liberia, Mr. Taylor's supporters are outraged⁵ by the trial, and support the former president's decision to boycott¹. This sentiment is shared by some African media commentators⁶ who portray⁷ Mr. Taylor as a victim of a western plot to cause chaos⁸ and pilfer⁹ resources in West Africa.

Samuel Johnson, speaking from Monrovia, says Mr. Taylor was being treated by the Special Court as a guilty man even before his trial began.

"As we speak now, Mr. Taylor's calls have been restricted; they restricted his calls two days prior to the trial," he said. "Mr. Taylor has been denied the right to speak in court. So we think Mr. Taylor has not been given fair treatment and fair justice."

He says that Mr. Taylor, who was moved to The Hague in 2006 following reports that a trial in Sierra Leone might re-ignite unrest in the country, should be tried in Africa where he can have a fair trial.

"If the man is accused of committing a crime in a particular country he must be tried there, for the benefit of the doubt. But you have taken Mr. Taylor from Africa to Europe," he said.

Mr. Taylor's attorneys have said that they have insufficient¹⁰ access to resources and facilities in The Hague.

They also say that the two-man defense¹¹ team allocated¹² to Mr. Taylor is insufficient, and that they need more time and funding to compete with the nine-strong prosecution¹³ team. Mr. Taylor's main lawyer walked out of the courtroom Monday, and said Mr. Taylor wanted to defend himself.

But analysts say that the trial of Mr. Taylor, who is the first African head of state to be prosecuted¹⁴ by an international criminal court, is progressing freely and fairly.

Peter Pham, director of the U.S.-based Nelson Institute for International and Public affairs, says Mr. Taylor is trying to discredit¹⁵ the court as a delaying tactic¹⁶, because he does not have a strong defense.

"I think what Charles Taylor is facing is that he does not have much of a defense, and so as any lawyer knows, when you cannot argue the law you argue technicalities," he said.

Elise Keppler works at the Geneva offices of the group Human Rights Watch.

She says it is important that this trial is free from the problems that have marred¹⁷ the trials of heads of state in the past. Slobodan Milosevic died in The Hague in 2006 before his four-year trial ended, while the trial of Saddam Hussein was heavily criticized by Human Rights Watch for having serious legal defects.

She says a main problem with the trial of Hussein was that he was not tried in an international court.

"One of the most important features of the Special Court for Sierra Leone is that it has a mixed composition of Sierra Leonean and international judges and staff and that provides crucial opportunities to bring international expertise¹⁸ into the process," she said.

Alex Yearsley, from the London based non-governmental organization Global Witness, says that the charges made against Mr. Taylor have been limited to 11 to avoid an excessively lengthy¹⁹ trial, like that of Milosevic.

"They want this trial to last no more than 18 months, and I think it's important that there is a relatively²⁰ swift conclusion, but obviously that there is a full and free, fair trial," Yearsley said.

Yearsley say the trial of Mr. Taylor is a hugely important step, and will force African leaders to recognize that they are not above the law.

"It is really does throw down a marker for the very important issue in relation to the ending of impunity," he said. "You cannot let the grossest human rights violations²¹ that occurred go unpunished, and the international community is absolutely doing the right thing."

One problem analysts say is apparent is the thin defense team Mr. Taylor has around him. The former president says he has no money for his defense, but regional experts believe he has millions of dollars stashed²² away from his time in power.

Mr. Taylor is accused of arming and supporting rebel groups who murdered, mutilated, and terrorized thousands of citizens in Sierra Leone during a decade-long civil war in exchange for diamonds.

He has been charged on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including mass murder, rape²³, and the use of child soldiers.

He has pleaded not guilty on all counts.

1 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

2 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 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。

5 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

6 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 pilfer   

v.盗，偷，窃

参考例句：

• Staff were pilfering behind the bar.店员在柜台后有些小偷小摸的行为。
• When food stores close,they go to work,pilfering food for resale on the black market.食品店关门后，他们就行动起来，偷食品拿到黑市上出售。

10 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

11 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。

12 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

13 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

14 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

15 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

16 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

17 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

18 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

19 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

20 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

21 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

22 stashed   

v.贮藏( stash的过去式和过去分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她有一大笔钱存在几个不同的银行账户下。
• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她在不同的银行账户上秘密储存了一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 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。