VOA常速英语2008年-Museveni Says Uganda Rebels Will Not Face Inter

By Tendai Maphosa
London
11 March 2008

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni says as part of the peace agreement between his government and the Lord's Resistance Army, the rebels indicted¹ by the International Criminal Court are to be tried in Uganda under a traditional judiciary process. Tendai Maphosa attended a press conference by President Museveni in London and filed this report for VOA.

President Yoweri Museveni told reporters the International Criminal Court issued its arrest warrants for the rebel leaders at his government's request as they were waging their insurgency² from outside Uganda. Now that peace has been agreed, he says the rebels are to be tried at home.

"What we have said in the agreement is that instead of using this formal Western type of justice we are going to use the traditional justice, we have got a traditional blood settlement mechanism³ whereby the one who committed a mistake asks for forgiveness and then there is some compensation done to the victims and then that settles the accountability," he said. "In that case we can approach the ICC and say those people whom we had brought to your attention are under our jurisdiction⁴, therefore we would like to withdraw our complaint."

Mr. Museveni said those indicted by the International Criminal Court and other LRA fighters would, under the traditional justice system, avoid going to jail. The president added that those victimized by the Lord's Resistance Army would be compensated⁵. He conceded that some of the victims may not be happy with the arrangement.

"Of course they may not be happy, but some of the communities are the ones who asked us to take that route," he said.

ICC arrest warrants for rebel leader Joseph Kony and four others were issued in 2005 for crimes against Humanity and War Crimes committed in Uganda since July 2002. Two of those wanted by the ICC are known to have since died.

President Museveni would not confirm speculation⁶ that Kony would attend the signing ceremony in Uganda.

The International Criminal Court did not respond to VOA's request for a statement regarding Mr. Museveni's comments.

But last month, the human rights body Amnesty International said that under the terms of an agreement, known as the Rome Statute⁷, the Ugandan government had to arrest and surrender the wanted men to the International Criminal Court . Then, the government or the arrested persons could argue that Uganda is able and willing to try them in a fair trial which is not designed to shield them from criminal responsibility.

When this was brought to Mr. Museveni's attention he said his legal people would deal with the procedures.

The arrest warrants were a major sticking point in the peace negotiations⁸ between the government and the rebels.

The agreement is set for signing before the end of the month and would bring an end to approximately 20 years of fighting between the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government. Soldiers on both sides have been accused of killing⁹ tens of thousands of people and forcibly displacing about two million more.

1 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

2 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

5 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

6 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

7 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。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 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。