联合国人权官员对种族大会表示乐观

UN Rights Official Upbeat on Race Conference

Challiss McDonough

Durban

4 Sep 2001 

U.N. Human Rights Commissioner 1 Mary Robinson says the World Conference Against Racism 2 is back on track despite the 1)pullout of the United States.

Mary Robinson, who is Secretary-General of the conference, told reporters the 2)walkout by the United States and Israel was met by "a good deal of sadness and 3)dismay."

But she also said she is encouraged by what she called the constructive 3 spirit of the remaining 4)delegates, who are determined 4 to press on toward 5)consensus 5 on the wording of the final declaration. "I believe we are back on course. We are steadied, and everybody knows that time is short," she said. "We have come a long and 6)bumpy way to get here. But voices that were 7)ignored before are being heard."

Those voices were being heard even as she spoke 6. Outside, a noisy group of Afro-Brazilian protesters were demanding 8)reparations for the slave trade.

Carrying huge banners and blowing whistles, they chant, "reparations now!" Zakiya Carr represents a Sao Paulo-based organization for black women. "Brazil is in a situation where African people are being discriminated 7. We want reparations now. That's what we want," she said.

The day also saw a protest of 9)indigenous people from around the world, demanding equal rights from their 10)respective governments, and from the United Nations.

But the main event remains 8 the Middle East conflict and the U.S. and Israeli walkout. A U.S. spokeswoman has confirmed that the U.S. consul 9 general in Durban remains at the conference, but mainly as an observer, he is not allowed to participate in any way.

Three 11)anonymous bomb threats were made Tuesday against the building next door to the U.S. 12)consulate 10 in Durban. A police spokesman said the bomb squad 11 searched the building 13)thoroughly and found no explosives. He insists the incident is not related to the racism conference or the U.S. consulate.

A Palestinian NGO delegate, Khader Shkirad, told reporters the U.S. attitude toward the conference has actually achieved the opposite of the Bush administration's goal. "By attempting to 14)exclude the Palestinian issue from this conference, in fact, I would like to thank on behalf of the Palestinian caucus 12 and on behalf of all the 15)victims, to thank the United States for putting the Palestinian issue on the top agenda to this conference," he said.

The U.N. human rights commissioner confirmed that the entire section of the declaration dealing 13 with the Middle East has been withdrawn 14, in line with a South African proposal to start from scratch. Ms. Robinson said South Africa has agreed to 16)spearhead efforts to rewrite that section in an effort to find consensus. "The text that is in there having been withdrawn, it may not be possible to replace with other text," she said. "But I am sure the delegates will want to have text on a whole range of issues that are encompassed 15 in that."

Ms. Robinson said it is still possible to create a conference declaration that will be what she called a ringing endorsement 16 of respect for human dignity. But she said the thorniest 17 questions are not likely to be resolved until the last minute Friday, if at all.

(1)      pullout n.撤退, 拔, 拉, 离去

(2)      walkout n.罢工

(3)      dismay[dIs5meI]n.沮丧, 惊慌v.使沮丧, 使惊慌

(4)      delegate[5delI^Et]n.代表vt.委派...为代表

(5)      consensus[kEn5sensEs]n.一致同意, 多数人的意见, 舆论

(6)      bumpy[5bQmpI]adj.(道路等)颠簸的, 崎岖不平的

(7)      ignore[I^5nC:(r)]vt.不理睬, 忽视

(8)      reparations n.赔款

(9)      indigenous[In5dIdVInEs]adj.本土的

(10)      respective[rI5spektIv]adj.分别的, 各自的

(11)      anonymous[E5nRnImEs]adj.匿名的

(12)      consulate[5kRnsjJlEt; (?@) 5kRnsElEt]n.领事, 领事馆, 领事任期

(13)      thoroughly[5WQrElI]adv.十分地, 彻底地

(14)      exclude[Ik5sklu:d]vt.拒绝接纳, 把...排除在外, 排斥

(15)      victim[5vIktIm]n.受害人, 牺牲者, 牺牲品

(16)      spearhead[5spIEhed]n.先头部队v.充当先锋