VOA标准英语2009年-Children in Somalia Facing Acute Malnutrition C

The African Union is sending a high-level delegation¹ to the U.N. Security Council to plead for suspension of the war crimes indictments³ against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Sudan appealed to African members of the International Criminal Court to withdraw in protest.
　
Omar al-Bashir

The AU Peace and Security Council is expressing dismay the United Nations has ignored a unanimous appeal from Africa's leaders at their recent summit to postpone⁴ the ICC arrest warrants against Sudan's president.

Burkina Faso's Ambassador Bruno Nongoma Zidouemba, who holds the AU Council's rotating chairmanship, called the U.N. body's failure to suspend the indictments a "misunderstanding". He said Africa's top diplomats⁶ are being dispatched to New York to ask for reconsideration, and told reporters he expects the mission to succeed.

"We did not foresee failing," said Ambassador Zidouemba. "We will be heard. We think until now there is a kind of misunderstanding. The ICC will not be here without the African countries. If you take the number, two-thirds are from Africa. Africa is not against the ICC to punish international crimes, but we have a special case in Darfur and the sudan, which is that we have to take into account the necessity for peace to prevail in sudan."

The delegation is likely to be led by AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping, Africa's top diplomat⁵ and a past president of the U.N. General Assembly.

In a speech to a closed session of the AU Peace and Security Council Thursday, Sudanese Ambassador Mohieldin Salim Ahmed argued the indictments would thwart⁷ efforts for a peaceful settlement in Darfur. He called on the 33 African ICC member states to show their contempt for the ICC action by withdrawing from the Rome Statute⁸ that created the court.

Speaking to reporters afterward⁹, Ambassador Salim said he expects strong support from African leaders.

"We are confident that our continent is not going to fail us," he said. "The case is not now the case of Sudan, it is the case of Africa, and that has been reflected clearly in all the interventions¹⁰ of the African leaders in the last summit."

A communiqué issued at the end of Thursday's meeting appears to acknowledge the difficult choice facing African nations that are party to the Rome statute.

On the one hand ICC member states are bound to uphold the court's actions. On the other hand are strong feelings that the ICC employs a double standard in focusing on Africa while avoiding issues involving the Middle East and powerful members of the U.N. Security Council.

The communiqué calls for ICC member states to meet before the next AU summit in July to consider whether withdraw from the statute. But diplomats say that time frame is roughly the same as the previous schedule, giving conflicted members time to wait and see whether Africa's views on the indictment² are taken into account before beginning their deliberations.

1 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

2 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

3 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网

4 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

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 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

8 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

9 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

10 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网