2013-02-01 13:32:09Connie_Chin

Security Council plans new UN peacekeeping force for Mali

By Associated Press February 1

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council will consider plans to deploy a new U.N. peacekeeping force to Mali to help pacify the northern part of the West African country following France’s ejection of hard-line Islamists from the cities there, a senior diplomat said Thursday.

聯合國─一名資深外交官員於本週四表示,在法國驅逐阿爾及利亞北部的伊斯蘭強硬派後,聯合國安全理事會將考慮在馬利(Mali)佈署新的一批聯合國維和部隊,以緩和當地的緊張局勢。

The Security Council last month passed a resolution approving a multinational African force to help stabilize Mali. But with the Islamist forces in retreat, that plan has been overtaken by events on the ground.

上個月安理會通過的決議案原本是允許一支由非洲國家聯合組成的軍隊進駐馬利,但有鑑於當地抵抗活動已讓伊斯蘭武力節節敗退,該計畫也因此被擱置。

Instead, the Security Council will discuss a regular U.N. peacekeeping force for Mali instead, the senior Western diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plans were in an early phase of discussion.

不過,根據這名匿名的消息來源表示,目前安理會的討論重點開始為是否派遣一支常規聯合國維和部隊至馬利,但一切都還是未定數。

The force would probably be composed of 3,000 to 5,000 peacekeepers, the diplomat said.

此名西方國家的外交官透露,這支維和部隊大約會有3,0005,000名軍人。

A U.N. peacekeeping force would be a positive development, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday on France-Inter radio.

法國國防部長 Jean-Yves Le Drian於週四的France-Inter廣播中肯定聯合國維和部隊這個構想,表示這項發展極為正面。

“The evolution announced by the U.N. would be a very positive evolution, and I want this initiative to be carried out,” he said. “France will play its role, of course.”

他指出,「聯合國的這個構想有其發展性,我希望它可以被付諸實行。當然,法國將會擔負起應有的責任。」

French troops might still be needed to stay on for a while as a rapid-reaction strike force, with more aggressive duties in comparison to the pacification program assigned to the U.N. peacekeepers, the diplomat said.

法國軍隊可能還是必須在當地停留一陣子,以便隨時回應緊急攻擊。此名外交官指出,法國軍隊所應擔負的責任比起單純只是維持當地和平的聯合國維和部隊還要吃重。

The United States, Britain and France favor the U.N. peacekeeping force approach. The change in plans would require a new Security Council resolution.

美國、英國和法國都贊成出動聯合國違和部隊,但此項方案還需要新的安理會成員做出正式決議後才能實施。

The peacekeeping plans are being discussed amid allegations from human rights groups that Mali’s army has carried out summary executions and other abuses as they confront the Islamic extremists.

派遣維和部隊這個構想之所以會被提出,是由於人權團體宣稱馬利軍隊不斷草菅人命,尤其對伊斯蘭極端分子的迫害。

London-based Amnesty International said Thursday that it had found evidence during a 10-day investigation of atrocities committed by both the Malian army and the Islamic insurgents.

總部位於倫敦的國際特赦組織在當天也宣布經過10天的調查,有明確證據顯示馬利政府軍和伊斯蘭暴亂分子所犯下的暴行。

An Amnesty delegation documented that on Jan. 10, on the eve of French intervention, the Malian army arrested and killed more than two dozen civilians, mainly in the northern city of Sevare. Witnesses described how they saw soldiers dump the bodies of several people into a well, Amnesty said.

特赦組織所提出的文件中,指控在法國介入的前一晚,也就是110日晚上,馬利軍隊逮捕並殺害了24名民眾,主要集中在阿爾及利亞的一個北方城市Sevare。特赦組織引述目擊者描述,指出他們親眼看見軍人把數具屍體扔入井中。

Last week, a witness told The Associated Press that Malian soldiers killed people accused of ties to radical Islamists at a Sevare bus stop on Jan 10. The soldiers then put the victims in two nearby wells, poured gasoline in and set the bodies ablaze, the witness said.

上週,一名目擊者告訴美聯社馬利軍人於110日時,在Sevare的某一公車站處決了一批被控與激進伊斯蘭分子有關連的民眾,然後將屍體扔入附近的兩座水井,並倒入汽油焚屍。

Amnesty also said that Islamist armed groups have carried out summary executions, five injured Malian soldiers and a civilian in the town of Diabaly between Jan. 14-15. The Islamists have forcibly recruited child soldiers as young as 10-years-old, Amnesty said.

特赦組織也表示,於1月14日與15日,伊斯蘭武裝集團也在一個名為Diabaly的小鎮上,隨意處決了五名受傷的馬利軍人和一名民眾,並強徵兒童入軍,最年輕的只有10歲。

The New York-based Human Rights Watch reported on Thursday evening that Malian government forces summarily executed at least 13 suspected Islamist supporters and forcibly disappeared five others from the garrison town of Sevare and in Konna in January. It said Islamist armed groups in Konna executed at least seven Malian soldiers, five of whom were wounded, and used children as soldiers in combat.

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Associated Press writer Elaine Ganley contributed to this story from Paris.