VOA标准英语2010-Zimbabwe Court Issues Ruling on Diamond S

Women miners search for diamonds in eastern Zimbabwe's lucrative¹ Marange diamond fields.

[Please note that this story has been superseded² by later information from Zimbabwe and a portion of it is no longer completely accurate.  The Harare Supreme³ Court has not lifted its order halting diamond mining activity by Zimbabwe and sales of the country's diamonds on world markets.  The court has allowed the government's existing appeal of the case to proceed, but for the time being previous orders remain in effect.  In any case, the comments by Elly Harrowell of Global Witness included in the story below are accurate.  We plan to move a new story from Harare explaining the nuances of Tuesday's court ruling, which appears to have been misinterpreted by some media in Zimbabwe.]

Zimbabwe’s suspension of diamond mining activities and sales from its Marange fields may soon be coming to an end.  Tuesday, the Harare Supreme Court gave the widely criticized mines, which the debt-ridden government has controlled since 2006, the go-ahead to sell up to 129,000 carats of the precious stones on world markets.

Zimbabwe Mines Minister Obert Mpofu

Mines minister Obert Mpofu reaffirmed the country’s intention to defy, if necessary, the Kimberley Process, which monitors workers’ conditions, regardless of whether the international watchdog accedes⁵ to a lifting of the stoppage.

Tuesday’s judgment⁶ was reached during a court battle over ownership rights to the minerals between the government and U.K.-owned African Consolidated⁷ Resources (ACR), which ran the mines until October, 2006.  From London, Elly Harrowell of the anti-corruption group Global Witness says the ruling could prove harmful to the Zimbabwe government.

“We would warn the Zimbabwe government that if it goes ahead and exports diamonds from the Marange field, this will be in direct contravention of the agreement it signed with the Kimberley Process, and we will then be calling for their expulsion from this scheme,” she said.

The government of President Robert Mugabe seized the mine fields in its eastern region three and a half years ago and has supervised the production of 4.4 million carats of gemstones between that time and February of this year, when it complied with a court order to halt operations, due to its legal fight with ACR.

International exports were stopped in 2009 to accede⁴ with Kimberley Process demands to avert⁸ the sale of so-called blood diamonds, whose profits are cited for fueling subversive⁹ conflicts in neighboring countries.

Zimbabwe has also faced international human rights condemnation¹⁰ for failing to observe compassionate¹¹ labor¹² standards for its miners, who are said to endure harsh conditions and extremely low pay.  Elly Harrowell of Global Witness points out that inhumane treatment was the prime force behind last year’s restrictions¹³ by the Kimberley Process.

“I can’t imagine that any consumer or person who goes to buy their girlfriend an engagement ring will be happy to know that that diamond was produced in a context where helicopter gunships came in and shot down hundreds of miners in the fields, where women have been raped¹⁴, where people have been attacked with dogs.  To me, that’s pretty clear that’s a blood diamond,” she noted¹⁵.

Harrowell acknowledges that Zimbabwe mining cannot be equated¹⁶ with producing the same type of blood diamonds that have been used to fuel rebel conflicts in Angola, Liberia, or Sierra Leone.  But she places full blame on the Mugabe government for the injustices¹⁷ that flourish at the Marange fields and urges a greater international protest.

“It’s the (Zimbabwe) government itself which is abusing its own citizens.  That’s the excuse that most governments use not to step in, because they say conflict diamonds aren’t the problem, they don’t exist.  Whereas the government is abusing its own citizens.  We say, it doesn’t matter who is killing¹⁸ people.  People shouldn’t be dying because of diamonds,” she said.

There is still a possibility for Harare to demonstrate its compliance¹⁹ with the Kimberley Process to avoid facing expulsion from the group and resume diamond sales.  Harrowell says receiving Kimberley approval would require a new certification mission to reexamine Zimbabwe’s accession to international standards.

“First of all, the Kimberley Process monitor would have to return to Zimbabwe.  Once he is satisfied that the diamond sales are compliant²⁰ with the minimum standards of the Kimberley Process, then he can go ahead and start certifying²¹ that diamonds can be exported into international markets.  It’s very difficult to say when that will happen.  It depends on progress on the ground,” she explained.

The Global Witness campaigner voiced concern about a weakness in the Kimberley provisions that limit investigators²² it sends from monitoring human rights violations²³.  She notes that last month’s Kimberley mission and probe of Zimbabwe’s standards of compliance failed reflect the enormous personal suffering of the miners and she says Global Witness is recommending that Kimberley organizers expand their responsibilities to help human rights groups track these abuses in conflict zones.

 

1 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

2 superseded   

[医]被代替的，废弃的

参考例句：

• The theory has been superseded by more recent research. 这一理论已为新近的研究所取代。
• The use of machinery has superseded manual labour. 机器的使用已经取代了手工劳动。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 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。

5 accedes   

v.（正式）加入( accede的第三人称单数 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职

参考例句：

• Successive without the first ordinal heir, by the 2nd order heir accedes. 没有第一顺序继续人继续的，由第二顺序继续人继续。 来自互联网
• Deng Xiaoping accedes and developed Mao Zedong this one thought. 邓小平则继承和发展了毛泽东这一思想。 来自互联网

6 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

7 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

8 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

9 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

10 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

11 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

14 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 equated   

adj.换算的v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的过去式和过去分词 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• Production costs for the movie equated to around 30% of income. 这部电影的制作成本相当于收益的30%。
• Politics cannot be equated with art. 政治不能同艺术等同起来。

17 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

18 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

19 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。

20 compliant   

adj.服从的，顺从的

参考例句：

• I don't respect people who are too compliant.我看不起那种唯命是从，唯唯诺诺的人。
• For years I had tried to be a compliant and dutiful wife.几年来，我努力做一名顺从和尽职尽职的妻子。

21 certifying   

（尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书

参考例句：

• Signed Commercial in quintuplicate, certifying merchandise to be of Chinese origin. 签署商业发票一式五份，证明产品的原产地为中国。
• Other documents certifying the truthfulness of the contents of the advertisements. （三）确认广告内容真实性的其他证明文件。

22 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 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。