美国国家公共电台 NPR--Russia deports thousands of Ukrainian children. Investigators say that's a war crime

Russia deports¹ thousands of Ukrainian children. Investigators² say that's a war crime

Transcript³

The Russian government is operating a systematic⁴ network of at least 40 child custody⁵ centers for thousands of Ukrainian children, a potential war crime, according to a new report by Yale University researchers in a collaboration⁶ with the U.S. State Department in a program to hold Russia accountable.

The report, "Russia's Systematic Program for the Re-Education and Adoption⁷ of Ukrainian Children," describes a system of holding facilities that stretch from the Black Sea coast to Siberia.

"This is not one rogue⁸ camp, this is not one rogue mayor or governor," says Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Yale Humanitarian⁹ Research Lab. "It is a massive logistical undertaking¹⁰ that does not happen by accident."

Raymond's team of researchers is tackling one of the most explosive issues of the war. Ukrainian officials say Russia has evacuated¹¹ thousands of Ukrainian children without parental¹² consent.

Russian officials do not deny Ukrainian children are now in Russia, but insist the camps are part of a vast humanitarian project for abandoned, war-traumatized orphans¹³ and have been surprisingly public with social media messaging aimed at a Russian audience. Russia does not, however, acknowledge how many children are in Russia or where they are housed.

"All of this strikes us as a carefully orchestrated performance," says Caitlin Howarth, director of operations at the Yale lab.

"The Russian government needs to legitimize its activities, that make all of this seem normal," she says, "because you simply can't move these many children through these many places without their movements being noticed."

The children are held in camps across the Russian expanse

The Yale team says it has verified at least 6,000 Ukrainian children detained by the Russian government, although researchers believe there are thousands more. The report identifies 43 camps. "Eleven of the camps are located more than 500 miles from Ukraine's border with Russia, including two camps in Siberia and one in Russia's Far East," according to the report.

The Ukrainian children transported to Russia range in age from teens to toddlers, says Raymond.

"In some cases there is adoption, other cases summer camp programs where the kids were slated¹⁴ to return home and never did," he says, "and in some cases they are re-education camps."

The Yale report is the most extensive look at the program so far, says Raymond. "It shows scale, it shows chain of command, it shows logistical complexity," he adds.

The report also documents a start date for transporting Ukrainian children to Russia, days before the full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022.

"These first transports of children in early February 2022 included a group of 500 purported¹⁵ orphans 'evacuated' from Donetsk Oblast by Russia. The reason given publicly at the time was the supposed threat of an offensive by the Ukrainian armed forces," according to the report. Some of those Ukrainian children were later adopted by Russian families.

Researchers obtained evidence through open sourcing

The Ukrainian government and U.N. senior human rights officials have consistently raised the alarm over these activities since the early days of the war.

The alarm grew louder in May 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a new decree that made it quick and easy to adopt Ukrainian children, which was next to impossible before the war. In addition, Russian officials announced it would extend government support to Russian families who adopt Ukrainian children; the biggest financial incentive¹⁶ is for adopting handicapped kids.

The Yale researchers began investigating missing Ukrainian children when the first Russian social media posts appeared last year. The messaging began at about the time of Putin's adoption announcement, says one of the Yale researchers. He asked not to be named to protect the security of his work from hackers¹⁷.

"I believe the first places we saw this were on Telegram and then VK," he says. Telegram is a popular Russian messaging service. VK is the Russian version of Facebook.

"It quickly became clear there was an enormous amount of information publicly available," he says.

The Yale Humanitarian Research lab is defining the future of war crimes investigations¹⁹ by combining open source research techniques with high-resolution satellite imagery to offer analysis of alleged²⁰ war crimes in real time.

There are about 20 researchers who scour²¹ social media posts, news reports, government announcements and Russian messaging services, looking for patterns and connections that otherwise might go unnoticed.

As a partner with the U.S. State Department's Conflict Observatory²², the Yale lab has access to non-classified satellite imagery from the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. For this investigation¹⁸, it is a key to mapping the camps, said the researcher.

"You can see people. You can see cars. You can see certain types of activity," he said. "There's a very large amount of material related to the patriotic²³ education that they undergo while they are in camps," he added. The lessons are designed, he says, to instill loyalty²⁴ to Russia and promote Moscow's version of the war.

"What we are seeing," he says, "is the government of Russia and Russian leaders training and indoctrinating a generation of Ukrainian children."

What Russia calls a humanitarian project is identified by Yale researchers as a possible war crime

Russia has not publicly issued a list of Ukrainian children evacuated and detained. The number of children adopted by Russian families since Feb. 24, 2022, is also unknown. However, Russian officials insist adoption is only permitted for orphans, although evidence gathered by the Yale team shows otherwise.

The Yale report has verified that 37 Ukrainian children have been returned to their families, says Nathaniel Raymond. The thousands who remain in Russia may constitute a war crime, he says.

"It is fundamentally the unconsented custody and control of thousands of Ukrainian children. Not only is it against the law, but against common decency," he says.

The report, released Tuesday by the U.S. State Department, shows that the program is controlled by the Russian government from the top, Raymond says.

"This operation is centrally coordinated²⁵ by Russia's federal government and involved every level of government," according to the report. The Yale program identified several dozen federal, regional and local figures "directly engaged and politically justifying²⁶ the program."

War crimes evidence that can lead to trial is elusive²⁷

Gathering²⁸ evidence of alleged war crimes has always been difficult. That part hasn't changed.

But now, open-source investigators have a trove²⁹ of potential source material from on-the-ground witnesses who photograph war damage, map mass graves, record interviews with refugees — and post the results online. In addition, high-resolution satellite images make it easier than ever to identify deliberately³⁰ damaged hospitals, targeted grain silos or local children's summer camps.

The Yale team are all young Internet sleuths who work to verify the data they dig up and document the steps needed to meet the exacting³¹ standards and protocols³² for trial.

Raymond describes the lab's role as a "cop shop" – a "cyber cop shop," that is mindful to detail a chain of custody for the evidence produced. To understand the Lab's role, he points to the TV show Law and Order.

"We are the Jerry Orbach, beat cop side," he says, "Our job is to collect the evidence, digital evidence, and then how that comports³³ or does not with the law."

Also for the first time, war crimes investigators can gather evidence in real time while those crimes are still occurring, says Raymond.

"We are showing that we can collect perishable³⁴ evidence and make it actionable in ways that were previously³⁵ impossible. In the past this scale of operation was only available to governments," he says.

It is the future of war crimes investigations happening now at the Yale Lab, says Raymond, as civil society uses the same tools as governments, "at scale and at speed."

1 deports   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的第三人称单数 )；举止

参考例句：

• She deports herself like a lady. 她的举止像淑女。 来自辞典例句
• A so-called democratic country arrests, oppresses and deports the freedom and democratic fighters of Nepal. 一个所谓的民主国家逮捕、镇压并驱逐尼泊尔的自由民主战士，所有这一切都是在美国的指使下发生的。 来自互联网

2 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》

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

5 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

6 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

7 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

8 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

13 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

14 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

15 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

17 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

18 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

19 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

20 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

21 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

22 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

23 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

24 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

25 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

26 justifying   

证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• He admitted it without justifying it. 他不加辩解地承认这个想法。
• The fellow-travellers'service usually consisted of justifying all the tergiversations of Soviet intenal and foreign policy. 同路人的服务通常包括对苏联国内外政策中一切互相矛盾之处进行辩护。

27 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

28 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

29 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

30 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

31 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

32 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

33 comports   

v.表现( comport的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She always comports herself with great dignity. 她的举止总是很端庄。
• He comports himself with modesty. 他表现得很谦虚。 来自辞典例句

34 perishable   

adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的

参考例句：

• Many fresh foods are highly perishable.许多新鲜食物都极易腐败。
• Fruits are perishable in transit.水果在运送时容易腐烂。

35 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。