2006年VOA标准英语-US, Rwanda Reaffirm Close Ties

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
31 May 2006

President Bush welcomed Rwandan President Paul Kagame to the White House, saying he is honored to welcome a leader Mr. Bush described as a "man of action." At a news conference at the Voice of America later Wednesday, President Kagame said the two sides did not discuss charges by international organizations of human rights violations¹ in Rwanda.

-------------------------------------------

 
Paul Kagame (l) with President  Bush in the White House
  

President Bush spoke² warmly of welcoming President Kagame to the White House for a second time.

"I'm honored to welcome you back," said President Bush. "The president, he's a man of action. He can get things done. I'm proud of your leadership. We talked about a lot of issues. We talked about the Sudan, and I want to thank the president for committing troops in the AU [African Union] mission to help deal with what I have called a genocide.

President Bush also thanked the Rwandan leader for his efforts to fight HIV/AIDS.

"This government has done a really good job of using some of the monies that we provided to save lives," he said. "And, I've always told people, that's one thing for the American government and the American people, more importantly, to generously write checks to help, but it requires strong leadership at home, and you provided that leadership."

The two sides discussed what President Kagame described as key issues, including U.S.-Rwandan relations and development of his poor country. 

 
Paul Kagame at VOA 
  
At a news conference at the Voice of America, Mr. Kagame said his talks with President Bush did not include the issue of human rights violations in Rwanda, which have been alleged³ by international groups.

"As for the accusations⁴ by human rights [groups], they have been answered at the time they came up," said Paul Kagame. "And it looks like there is not a single country in this world I know that hasn't been accused by Human Rights Watch, including the United States."

Among several issues raised by Human Rights Watch is concern over the status of thousands of Rwandan refugees. The group says the asylum⁵ seekers fear unfair treatment in Rwanda by the reconciliation⁶ courts set up after the horrors of the 1994 genocide there. Some of them also told Human Rights Watch they fear violence from Rwandan government officials or from genocide survivors⁷ who had threatened them.

During the mass killing⁸ in 1994, extremist Hutus killed 800,000 people, mostly minority Tutsis.

Following the genocide, the world community established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which meets in Tanzania, to help legally resolve the cases of some of the worst crimes against humanity. President Kagame had harsh words for the court.

"It has spent nearly $1.5 billion, and it has tried about under 40, I think 26-30 cases - worth $1.5 billion," he said. "I have a problem with that."

In its annual 2005 report on Rwanda, the human rights group Freedom House said the court has accused Rwanda of refusing to cooperate in war crimes investigations⁹ involving the Rwandan army.

President Kagame acknowledged that there are what he described as "misunderstandings" between Rwanda and the Tribunal. He said his government considers some of the court's employees as unfit to serve because they themselves face genocide accusations. He added that the Tribunal wants Rwanda to guarantee that those found guilty will not be subject to the death penalty, a sentence President Kagame says is allowed by Rwandan laws.

1 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。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

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 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

5 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

6 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 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。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。