VOA标准英语2010年-Regulators Arrive in Harare Prior to C

Women take a break from digging for diamonds in Marange, eastern Zimbabwe, 1 Nov 2006 (file photo)

International diamond regulators have arrived in Harare ahead of the first legal sale of controversial diamonds from eastern Zimbabwe.

 A review mission from international regulator the Kimberley Process are scheduled to travel Tuesday to southeastern Zimbabwe Tuesday, where they will inspect the controversial diamond fields in the Marange area.

Three companies are mining diamonds in a small section of Marange.  They include two Zimbabwean companies backed by South African and Mauritian financiers.

The Kimberley Process banned the legal sale of diamonds from Zimbabwe because of claims of gross human rights abuses in the diamond fields, problems with smuggling¹ and a lack of security for the rough stones.  The Kimberley Process was formed six years ago to end trade in conflict diamonds.  Since then, some aspects of the international regulators' demands have been cleaned up.

Now the Kimberley Process says that if the situation actually has improved and after the stones are properly audited², all rough stones mined from May 28 through August 1 can be legally sold on Wednesday.

There has been much debate within the Kimberley Process about human rights abuses allegedly committed in the diamond fields.  Several international human rights groups say the diamond fields have been militarized, and that President Robert Mugabe's security forces ultimately control the Marange area.

Other groups, such as Global Witness, say there still are other outstanding issues.  One of them involves diamond rights investigator⁴ Farai Maguwu, who was held by police in poor conditions for more than a month in June.  He is now out on bail⁵ in eastern Zimbabwe.  But the attorney general's office has accused Maguwu of publishing false statements about Marange diamond operations which are detrimental⁶ to Zimbabwe.  Maguwu's reports claimed serious allegations of human rights abuses and led to the ban on sales of stones from Marange.

Tendai Biti, Movement for Democratic Change finance minister in the inclusive government, recently called for the stones to be sold legally.  He says the government has received no funds from Marange stones allegedly smuggled⁷ out of Zimbabwe and sold in Mozambique.

Abby Chikane, a South African appointed by the Kimberley Process as Zimbabwe monitor, says Zimbabwe's controversial diamonds should now be allowed to be certified⁸ and sold.

Chiam Evan Zohar a respected Israeli diamond analyst⁹, while acknowledging alleged³ human rights abuses at the Marange diamond fields, has called for the legal sale of the controversial stones.  Zohar says they represent 25 percent of the world's diamonds.  The diamond analyst is currently in Zimbabwe representing the 'World Diamond Council.

Part of the area now being mined in Marange belongs to a British-registered company, African Consolidated¹⁰ Resources, according to a Harare high court order in September last year.  Company officials say they want Zimbabwe to benefit from the sale of the diamonds, but they may seek payments proportionate to the sale of stones from its small diamond fields in Marange.

The Marange diamond fields are in an extremely poor part of Zimbabwe, which has long had hunger problems.  The U.N. Children's Fund, or UNICEF, recently did an assessment¹¹ of the nutritional¹² status of Zimbabwe's children under five.  A medical researcher with UNICEF told VOA that 70 percent of children under five have stunted¹³ growth because of insufficient¹⁴ nutrition, and that the Marange area has some of the country's worst malnutrition¹⁵ problems.

UNICEF insiders suggest the hunger problem is being made worse by disruptions and violence linked to the diamond mines.  The Zimbabwe National Army sent in helicopter gun ships to fire over informal miners in October 2008.  Human rights groups say about 200 people may have been killed in Marange during those raids.  Many more were arrested and beaten up, allegedly by members of the national police and army.

 

1 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

2 audited   

v.审计，查账( audit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The accounts have to be audited by a firm of external auditors. 这些账目必须由一家外聘审计员的公司来稽查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• E. g. few if any charities collection publishes audited accounts. 例如很少义款收集有公布经过查核的帐目。 来自互联网

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

5 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

6 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

7 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

8 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

9 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。

10 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。

11 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

12 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

13 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

14 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。

15 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。