The Crime-Fighting Power of Cross-Border Investigative Journalism | Bektour Iskender | TED

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung 校对人员: Lexi Ding

What makes organized crime strong?

是什么让有组织犯罪这么猖狂？

It is very well-connected across borders.

这种犯罪跨越国境却紧密联系。

Criminal leaders can cooperate over long distances,

犯罪头目可以远距离配合，

build efficient logistics

建立高效的物流，

and hide their wealth across many jurisdictions.

还可以在多个管辖区 藏匿他们的财富。

How do we know about this?

我们是怎么知道这些的呢？

One of the reasons is journalists.

其中一个原因 就来自于我们记者。

We are often the first ones

我们常常是第一个

to reveal the enormous schemes of organized crime networks.

揭露有组织犯罪团伙巨大阴谋的人。

At some point, journalists started connecting across borders, too.

不知何时，记者也开始了跨国交流。

During the last decade,

在过去的十年里，

there was a number of groundbreaking, cross-border investigations

许多突破性的跨境调查

that had dozens of media organizations working together.

是由数十家媒体组织 共同合作完成的。

“Panama Papers” is probably one of the most famous

《巴拿马文件》 （Panama Papers）可以说是

of such cross-border journalism collaborations.

这些跨境记者合作案件中 最著名的案件之一。

It had more than 100 media working on it;

参与该案件的媒体机构超过百家。

it affected countries on every continent.

这个案件涉及到全球各大洲的国家。

More importantly, it led to more than one billion dollars

更重要的是，该案件的破获

to be recovered to the economies of the countries they were stolen from.

为被盗国家追回了 十亿多美元的经济损失。

Now let’s take a look at maps that show which countries were featured

我们现在通过地图来看看 哪些国家在2016年到2021年间的

in three major global investigations from 2016 to 2021.

三个重大调查事件中 扮演了重要角色。

So this is “Panama Papers,”

这是《巴拿马文件》

“Paradise Papers,”

这个是《天堂文件》 （Paradise Papers)。

“Pandora Papers.”

这是《潘多拉文件》 （Pandora Papers)。

As you can see, some countries keep being blank spots on these maps,

如你所见，部分国家 在这个地图上一直是空白的，

and one of them is Kyrgyzstan,

其中之一为吉尔吉斯斯坦，

my home country.

也是我的故乡。

And does it mean there is no organized crime in Kyrgyzstan

难道地图上的空白就意味着 吉尔吉斯斯坦没有有组织犯罪

or maybe no corruption?

或腐败问题了吗？

No way.

不可能。

There is a lot of corruption in my country,

我的国家有着很严重的腐败问题，

and organized crime is a pretty powerful force.

有组织犯罪也是一股强大的势力。

Kyrgyzstan was just not covered in major global investigations

吉尔吉斯斯坦 只是在很长一段时间里，

都没有被重大国际调查事件涉及。

for a very long time.

I’m one of the founders of Kloop,

我是 Kloop 的创始人之一，

a very unusual media organization

这是一个非常与众不同的媒体组织，

that I co-founded in Kyrgyzstan back in 2007 with my friend, Rinat.

由我与我的朋友里纳特（Rinat） 于2007年在吉尔吉斯斯坦创立。

Initially it was just a news website and a journalism school.

起初 Kloop 只是一个 新闻网站和新闻学校。

We would train journalists as young as 15 or 16

我们想要培养15、 16 岁的年轻的记者，

to cover politics,

让他们报道政治、

human rights violations

违法人权的事件

and many, many other stories that happened in our country.

和许许多多发生在我们国家的事。

Throughout the years our journalists grew up,

我们的记者们逐渐成长，

and by the time they were in their early 20s,

在他们20岁出头的时候，

they thought they were too experienced to just cover daily news.

他们已经觉得 报道日常新闻太小儿科了。

They wanted to take on more involved stories,

他们想要报道更深层次的故事，

and they were eager to make a difference in Kyrgyzstan.

迫不及待想在 吉尔吉斯斯坦大展拳脚。

So we started publishing bigger investigations

所以我们开始与这些 年轻上进的记者们一起

with our young and engaged journalists,

报道更重大的调查案件，

but there were some difficulties though.

但是我们也遇到了一些困难。

In some cases, we did not have enough resources or experience

有时候，我们没有 足够的资源或经验

to work on very complicated stories,

调查太过复杂的事件，

and sometimes it was just too scary.

有些时候调查过程太吓人了。

For example, once we even received a death threat

比如有一次，我们在试图调查 时任总统之子的犯罪行为时，

for trying to investigate criminal activities of the then-president’s son.

甚至收到了死亡威胁。

And the problem was we didn’t know who could protect us,

问题是我们不知道 谁可以保护我们，

and we eventually had to drop this investigation.

所以最终只好放弃调查。

But then something important happened in 2017

2017 年发生了一件重要的事，

when we joined the network of OCCRP,

我们加入了 OCCRP。

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

“有组织犯罪和腐败报道项目”。

It is an organization based in Bosnia.

这是一个总部在 波士尼亚（Bosnia）的组织。

It was initially formed to unite the best investigative media outlets

创立初衷是为了集结巴尔干半岛的

from the Balkans,

调查媒体机构精锐，

and later it expanded its network to many other countries in Europe

后来覆盖范围延伸到了 欧洲的其他很多国家，

and then to Central Asia,

再到中亚、

Middle East, Africa, Latin America.

中东、非洲、拉丁美洲。

And the goal of this organization is in its name:

这个组织的目标顾名思义：

to fight organized crime and corruption with journalism.

利用新闻打击有组织犯罪和腐败。

We were the first Central Asian member of this network,

我们是组织中第一个中亚成员，

and oh, how many changes it has brought.

看看它带来了多少改变。

We turned Kyrgyzstan from a blank spot on the map

我们让吉尔吉斯斯坦不再是 地图上的一片空白，

into a country where organized crime and corruption are investigated

而是一个以前所未有的力度

调查有组织犯罪和腐败的国家。

as never before.

In 2019, we joined our efforts with OCCRP and also with Radio Liberty,

2019 年，我们与 OCCRP、 捷克共和国的媒体组织

a media organization based in Czech Republic,

自由电台（Radio Liberty）、

and Bellingcat, an Investigative Center from the UK.

英国的调查中心贝灵猫组织 （Bellingcat）通力合作。

And together we published a series of investigations

我们一起报道了 一系列调查结果，

about an underground cargo empire.

揭露了一个地下货运帝国。

A secretive family clan that transported goods from China to Central Asia

一个秘密家族组织， 从中国运输货物到中亚，

and didn’t pay all the taxes and tariffs,

不交任何税款和关税，

if you know what I mean.

你懂的。

In order to do that,

为了走私，

they bribed the Kyrgyzstan Customs Service,

他们贿赂了吉尔吉斯斯坦海关，

and a significant chunk of this bribe went to this person:

大部分都进了这个人的腰包：

Raimbek Matraimov,

赖因贝克·马特拉莫夫 （Raimbek Matraimov），

the Deputy Head of Kyrgyzstan’s Customs.

吉尔吉斯斯坦海关总署副局长。

Our investigations revealed

我们的调查揭露了

that even high-ranking officials in Kyrgyzstan are involved in corruption,

连吉尔吉斯斯坦的 高层官员都会涉嫌腐败，

poisoning their whole institutions with the worst possible practices.

用最坏的行为毒害整个组织。

People in Kyrgyzstan were outraged when they read this,

吉尔吉斯斯坦人民 看到报道时怒不可遏，

and this led to an unprecedented chain reaction.

导致了前所未有的连锁反应。

So first there were protests in Kyrgyzstan

起初，调查内容本身引发了

because of what was published in the investigation itself.

吉尔吉斯斯坦的抗议示威活动。

A year later, in 2020, even larger protests happened

一年以后，2020 年， 爆发了更大规模的抗议活动，

when some of the politicians who were featured in our investigations

起因为调查涉及的一些政客

had their party taking second place in the Parliament elections.

领导的政党在议会选举中 成为了第二大政党。

As a result of these larger protests,

这些大规模示威活动的结果是，

Parliament election results were annulled,

议会选举的结果被宣告无效，

government was changed

更换政府，

and eventually the president of the country was forced to resign.

最终总统被迫辞职。

(Applause)

（掌声）

But this investigation was important not only for Kyrgyzstan.

这些调查不止 对吉尔吉斯斯坦很重要。

Remember I told you about this family clan

还记得我刚说的始作俑者，

that started this scheme in the first place?

那个家族组织吗？

They earned a lot of money in Central Asia.

他们在中亚赚得盆满钵满。

We revealed and had evidence of at least 800 million dollars

我们揭露并有证据表明他们的流水

that went through their business,

至少有 8 亿美元，

and the real figure might be even higher.

真实的数字可能更庞大。

And where exactly did they spend their money?

那他们把钱花在哪儿了呢？

Well, they bought this house in Los Angeles, California,

他们在加州洛杉矶买了这幢别墅，

and this mansion in the UK;

在英国买了这套房子，

they started a construction project in Augsburg, Germany;

在德国奥格斯堡投资了建设项目，

they bought many apartments in Dubai.

在迪拜买了多套公寓。

In other words,

换句话说，

there is probably no such thing as local organized crime investigation.

不会有只局限于当地的有组织犯罪。

Because of how organized crime is structured,

有组织犯罪的体系意味着

almost every investigative story about it has at least a regional significance,

它在几乎每一个调查事件中都 至少有地区性影响，

and in many cases it has a global significance.

大多数情况都有国际性影响。

So now there are several messages that I want to deliver today.

我今天来这里想要传达几个信息。

Message number one:

信息1：

journalism networks are actually very efficient and important.

新闻联盟其实非常高效又重要。

You don’t need 100 media organizations for every investigation.

你不需要每次调查 都要找 100 家媒体组织。

You know, like in our case, we only had four,

我们这个例子里只有 4 家，

and it was already a huge game-changer.

已经足以扭转乾坤。

And for local media organizations like Kloop,

对于像 Kloop 这样的 本土媒体机构，

this is also a safety measure.

这也是一个保险措施。

As I mentioned before,

我刚提到，

working on investigations alone is scary.

单枪匹马调查很恐怖。

Within our network we not only share knowledge or resources,

在我们的联盟里， 不仅会共享知识和资源，

but we also care about each other, and we keep each other secure.

我们还会互相关照， 保护他人的安全。

Message number two:

信息2：

support local media organizations all around the world.

要支持全球的本土媒体机构。

When global journalism collaborations first began,

国际新闻合作刚开始的时候，

it was mostly media from Europe or the Americas

大部分都是欧洲或者美洲的媒体

that would have a leading role

担任领导角色，

as they had the greatest resources.

因为它们拥有的资源更多。

But media organizations from other continents are very important too.

但是其他大洲的媒体组织 也非常重要。

We have unique expertise, insights and connections.

我们有独特的专长、见解和人脉。

Before I move to the third and final message,

在我说出第三个也就是 最后一个信息之前，

I want to share something personal with you.

我想分享一些我个人的事。

Last year I moved to Ukraine

去年我搬到了乌克兰，

because Kloop planned to start a new regional media project there,

因为 Kloop 计划在乌克兰 开启一个新的地区性媒体项目，

and we are now forced to do it in another country

但是由于这个人粗暴地入侵乌克兰，

because this man was belligerent enough to invade Ukraine,

我们只好把项目迁移至另一个国家，

the country that became my second home.

这个国家成为了我的第二个家。

But I want to highlight a role of another country in this war:

但是我想强调 这场战争中的另一个国家，

Belarus.

白俄罗斯的角色。

Belarus is very corrupt.

白俄罗斯非常腐败。

It has been run by Alyaksandr Lukashenka,

由亚历山大·卢卡申科 （Alyaksandr Lukashenka）领导，

a dictator that has been ruling this country since the 1990s.

他自上世纪 90 年代 就独裁着这个国家。

Lukashenka did something unthinkable.

卢卡申科做了一件不可思议的事。

He provided the territory of Belarus to the Russian army

他将白俄罗斯的领土交给俄军，

to attack Ukraine from the north.

让俄军可以自北袭击乌克兰。

One of the similarities between Belarus and Kyrgyzstan

白俄罗斯和吉尔吉斯斯坦之间 有一个相似之处，

is that both our countries are small

就是两国都很小，

and get little attention from global media.

在国际媒体上缺乏关注度。

At the same time,

与此同时，

for decades, local media in Belarus did not have enough resources

长年以来，白俄罗斯本地的媒体 没有足够的资源

or safety measures to thoroughly investigate Lukashenka

或安全措施彻底调查卢卡申科

and corrupt officials around him.

及其周围的腐败官员。

The thing is, Lukashenka is not really a super powerful leader

值得一提的是，卢卡申科 与其他国家的领导人相比，

of global magnitude.

并不算一个非常强势的领导人。

Unlike Putin, he could [have been] weakened years ago.

不像普京，卢卡申科 早在几年前就有被削弱的可能了。

What helped him stay in power was massive pressure on civil society,

他一直手握大权的原因是 对公民社会组织、

on local media

本地媒体的重压，

and lack of financial measures from other countries.

也没有受到其他国家的经济制裁。

If the global community took stronger action against Lukashenka,

如果全球社会对卢卡申科 采取更严厉的措施，

if local media were stronger and better linked with global networks,

如果本地媒体更强势、 与全球组织有更强的联结，

I believe Russia could have lost its key ally a long, long time ago.

我相信俄罗斯在很久以前 就失去了它这个关键盟友。

A better-timed collaborative journalism investigation could save many lives.

一个时机正好的联合记者调查 可以拯救许多生命。

So here I come to my final message.

这是最后一个信息。

Let's leave criminals and corrupt officials without access to their money

趁为时未晚，我们应该断绝 犯罪分子和腐败官员

before it’s [too late].

提取赃款的可能。

This is where journalists need help from activists,

这就是记者需要社会活动家、

politicians

政治家、

and even bankers,

甚至是银行家帮助的地方，

not just from each other.

不只是记者之间。

We must expand our cross-border networks outside of the media world too,

我们也必须把跨国联盟 延伸至媒体领域之外，

because every exposed, corrupt official,

因为每一个腐败官员被曝光，

every arrested organized crime leader

每一个有组织犯罪头目被逮捕，

is a chance to protect our world not only from smugglers and thieves,

都带来了保护我们的世界 免受走私者和窃贼、

but also from dictators and warmongers.

独裁者和好战分子 侵扰的机会。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌声、欢呼声）