VOA常速英语2007年-Human Rights Watch Says Rights Suffers Setback

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
14 December 2007

The international group Human Rights Watch has accused the United Nations Human Rights Council of letting Sudan off the hook for continuing human rights abuse in Darfur. The group criticized the Council for passing a watered down resolution that fails to address the crisis in the troubled region. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

The Human Rights Council did not renew the mandate¹ of a panel of experts that had been formed to help the government of Sudan implement² recommendations to improve the human rights situation in Darfur.

Human Rights Watch says a strong resolution proposed by European countries was shelved in favor of a much weaker one supported by the African group in the council.

As a result, it says the council has squandered³ the good work done by the seven-member Darfur experts' group. Human Rights Watch official, Juliette de Rivero, says the council's eagerness to pass the resolution by consensus⁴ comes at the expense of human rights objectives.

"It might be a diplomatic triumph, but in human rights terms the text that we have and the decisions that have resulted are very weak for implementation⁵ on the ground in Darfur," said de Rivero. "In a way, we see that the way that the negotiations⁶ have developed have led to some sort of appeasement⁷ of Sudan and its allies. And, we think that this is unfortunate for the Council."

The Darfur experts' group has criticized Sudan for failing to implement most of the recommendations made by human rights investigators⁹. It has expressed particular concern over Sudan's failure to bring perpetrators of past and ongoing¹⁰ human rights violations¹¹ to justice.

It noted¹² that killings¹³ of civilians¹⁴, attacks against villages and widespread sexual abuse and rape¹⁵ continue in Darfur without anyone being held accountable.

In a news conference, the president of the Human Rights Council, Doru Costea, said the credibility of the Council depends on objective examination and not on achieving consensus at any price.

The council did agree to a second resolution to extend for one year the mandate of an expert to address the human rights situation in all of Sudan.

Among her many duties, de Rivero says, the expert has been asked to help the Sudanese government implement recommendations on Darfur. In effect, she says, the work of the seven-member expert group has been unloaded onto one person.

"And, that is our main concern," said de Rivero. "We have gone from seven people examining the situation in Darfur to one person having to examine the situation in Darfur and the rest of Sudan. So, obviously, her mandate and her capacity to do all her work has also been undermined. So, for us it really is a setback¹⁶."

Meanwhile, the council decided¹⁷ to take action on the crisis in Burma. It adopted a resolution, which calls for the release of all those detained in connection with the recent protests. It also calls for the release of political detainees and pro-democracy leader Aung San Sui Kui.

The resolution asks the special UN investigator⁸, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to conduct a follow-up mission to Burma to document human rights violations.

1 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

2 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

3 squandered   

v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He squandered all his money on gambling. 他把自己所有的钱都糟蹋在赌博上了。
• She felt as indignant as if her own money had been squandered. 她心里十分生气，好像是她自己的钱给浪费掉了似的。 来自飘（部分）

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

6 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。

7 appeasement   

n.平息，满足

参考例句：

• Music is an appeasement to shattered nerves. 音乐可抚慰受重创的神经。
• There can be no appeasement with ruthlessness. 对残暴行为是不能姑息的。 来自演讲部分

8 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。

9 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》

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 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。

12 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。

13 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

15 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

16 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

17 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。