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On December 12, 1904, Chief Lontulu laid 110 twigs in front of a foreign commission.
1904年12月12日，龙图鲁酋长在一个外国调查团面前摆下了110根树枝。
Every twig represented a person in his village who died because of King Leopold's horrific regime in the Congo -- all in the name of rubber.
每根树枝都代表一个他所在村里死于利奥波德二世在刚果的可怕统治时期的人，他们罪名都是：抢劫。
Chief Lontulu separated the twigs into four piles: tribal nobles, men, women, and children -- then proceeded to name the dead of one-by-one.
龙图鲁酋长把树枝分为四堆：部落贵族、男人、女人和孩子。然后一个个地说出他们的名字。
His testimony joined hundreds of others to help bring an end to one of the greatest atrocities in history.
他的证词以及数百个其他人的证词，引致结束了历史上最为残暴的暴行之一。
Beginning in the late 1800s, European countries participated in the so-called "Scramble for Africa."
从十九世纪末开始，欧洲国家竞相加入“瓜分非洲”的活动中。
They colonized 90% of the continent, exploiting African resources and enriching their countries.
他们殖民了90%的非洲大陆，把掠夺而来的资源变成自己国家的财富。
Belgium had recently become an independent kingdom. Its ruler, Leopold II, wanted to acquire what he called "a slice of this magnificent African cake."
那时，比利时刚刚成为一个独立的王国。他们的统治者利奥波德二世想如他所说的“从非洲大蛋糕上分上一块”。
Meanwhile, he read colonial explorer Henry Morton Stanley's reports about traveling through Africa.
此时，他读到殖民地探险家亨利·莫顿·史丹利所写的关于非洲的游记。
Stanley emphasized the Congo basin's majesty. So, in 1879, Leopold contracted him to return to the Congo.
史丹利在书中强调了刚果盆地的雄伟壮观。于是，1879年，利奥波德二世资助史丹利重回刚果。
There, Stanley deceived leaders into signing some 450 treaties allowing for land use.
在刚果，史丹利欺骗领主们签署了大概450多个协议，允许使用他们的土地。
Leopold persuaded the US and European powers to grant him ownership of the Congo, pledging to protect free trade in the region.
利奥波德二世说服美国和欧洲势力确保他对刚果的所有权，承诺保护该地区的自由贸易。
And on May 29, 1885, a territory more than 80 times the size of Belgium and home to 20 million people was declared his own private colony -- by no one it actually belonged to.
到了1885年5月29日，一块面积超过比利时国土面积80倍、人口达到两千万人的土地成为了他的私人殖民地，而实际上，这块土地不属于任何人。
Leopold lost no time consolidating power in what he called the Congo Free State.
利奥波德二世迅速地巩固了他在所谓的“刚果自由州”的权力。
He claimed land, raised an army, and forced many Congolese men to complete unpaid labor.
他宣誓主权，建立了一支军队，并且强迫许多刚果男人无偿劳动。
Things got even worse when, in 1887, a Scottish inventor redeveloped the pneumatic tire, creating a massive international market for rubber.
1887年，情形变得更糟，一个苏格兰发明家设计出充气轮胎，一下子为橡胶开创了巨大的国际市场。
The Congo had one of the world's largest supplies. Leopold seized the opportunity, requiring villages to meet ever-greater rubber quotas.
刚果是世界上最大的供应国之一。利奥波德二世抓住了这个机会，强迫村民们完成不断上涨的橡胶任务。
Congolese men had to harvest the material from wild vines. As supplies drained, they walked for days to gather enough.
刚果男人们不得不从野生橡胶树上收割原料。当原料枯竭时，他们要走上数天才能搜集够。
Leopold's army entered villages and held women and children hostage until the impossible quota was met.
利奥波德二世的军队进入村庄，把妇女和孩子当作人质，直到不可能的任务被完成。
Soldiers sexually violated women and deprived children of food and water.
士兵们性侵妇女，剥夺孩子们的食物和水。
Congolese people rebelled -- they refused to cooperate, fought Leopold's soldiers, hid in the forests, and destroyed rubber vines.
刚果人民忍无可忍，发动了起义，他们拒绝合作，与利奥波德二世的士兵作战，躲进森林，破坏橡胶园。
Leopold's army responded to resistance or failure to meet quotas with unflinching torture and executions.
当遭遇抵抗或生产任务未能完成，利奥波德二世的军队用冷酷的拷打和处决来回应。
Because guns and ammunition were expensive, officers ordered soldiers to prove they used their bullets in the line of duty by removing a hand from anyone they killed.
因为枪支弹药非常昂贵，军官要求士兵们砍下他们杀死的人的一只手，来证明子弹是用于执行任务。
However, many soldiers hunted using their guns.
然而，很多士兵使用枪支来狩猎。
To avoid harsh penalties and account for lost bullets, they cut off living people's hands. They also used this practice as punishment.
为了避免严厉的惩罚和丢失子弹的责任，他们从活人的身上砍下手。他们还用这种方式作为惩罚的手段。
If rubber quotas weren't met, soldiers would sever people's hands and bring them to their commanders instead of rubber.
如果橡胶任务没有完成，士兵们会砍断人们的手，把它们代替橡胶交给他们的指挥官。
The regime dramatically upended daily life and agriculture, causing widespread starvation and disease.
这种统治极大地改变了日常生活和农业生产，导致饥饿和疾病广泛传播。
Meanwhile, King Leopold built monuments and private estates with the wealth he extracted.
而与此同时，利奥波德二世却用他攫取的财富建立起纪念碑和私人庄园。
Soon, people brought international attention to the horrific abuses of Leopold's Congo Free State.
很快，利奥波德二世的“刚果自由州”的人民所遭受的非人虐待引起了国际关注。
In 1890, American journalist George Washington Williams accused King Leopold of "deceit, fraud, robberies, arson, murder, slave-raiding, and a general policy of cruelty."
1890年，美国记者乔治·华盛顿·威廉姆斯指控利奥波德二世“欺骗、欺诈、抢劫、纵火、谋杀、抢劫奴隶，和残忍的一贯政策。”
In 1903, Diplomat Roger Casement wrote a report that corroborated the nature and scale of the atrocities.
1903年，外交官罗杰·凯门特撰写了一份报告，证实了暴政的性质和规模。
It was published the following year. In response, Leopold appointed his own commission to investigate the accusations.
这份报告于次年出版。作为回应，利奥波德二世派出了自己的代表团调查这些指控。
They heard numerous witness statements in the Congo -- Chief Lontulu's included. The report only confirmed the worst.
代表团听到了刚果无数目击者的证词，这其中，就包括龙图鲁酋长。最终的报告证明事实比已出版的报告还严重。
Facing pressure, Leopold relinquished control of the Congo to the Belgian government in 1908. But this did not mean justice.
面对压力，利奥波德二世放弃了对刚果的控制，于1908年把权力移交给了比利时政府。但是，这一切并不意味着正义来临。
The Belgian state awarded Leopold 50 million francs "in testimony for his great sacrifice in favor of the Congo."
因为，比利时政府授予利奥波德二世5000万法郎作为“他为刚果所付出的巨大牺牲的证明”。
He died the following year. Crowds booed his funeral procession.
利奥波德二世于第二年去世。人群对他的送葬队伍发出嘘声。
For more than 50 years following, the Congo remained a Belgian colony, until declaring independence in 1960.
在接下来的超过50年的岁月里，刚果始终是比利时的殖民地，直到1960年，刚果宣布独立。
That year, the Congo elected its first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. But months later, he was unseated in a US and Belgium backed coup.
当年，刚果选举出第一个总理--帕特里斯·卢蒙巴。但是几个月后，他就被美国和比利时支持的政变赶下了台。
In early 1961, Lumumba was assassinated under Belgian supervision. The coup launched the country into a decades-long dictatorship.
1961年初，卢蒙巴在比利时的“监护”下遇刺身亡。政变把刚果带入了长达数十年的独裁统治。
Around 10 million Congolese people are thought to have died during Leopold's occupation and looting of the Congo.
据信，大概有一千万刚果人死于利奥波德二世占领、抢劫刚果的时期。
Despite this devastation, calls for reparations have gone unanswered.
尽管遭受了巨大的破坏，补偿刚果人民的呼声犹如泥牛入海，没有响应。
To this day, throughout Belgium can be found the monuments King Leopold built on a foundation of inconceivable cruelty.
时至今日，在整个比利时随处都可以看到利奥波德二世那些建立在难以置信的残暴基石之上的纪念碑。
