Erwähnte Literatur

-- Film von Adam Hochschild: "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa"

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3. Die weissen Helden: erpressen, rauben, töten so viel wie möglich

3.5. Belgien
Falsche weisse Helden: Belgiens Kolonialismus mit Diktatur und Massenmord im Kongo ohne Ende: "Kongo-Greuel"

Was den Engländern ihre Sepoy-Meuterei in Indien, ist für die Belgier die Meuterei der eingeborenen Truppe in der Kongo-Kolonie, der sogenannten Force Publique. Im Zeitraum eines Jahrzehnts meutern diese Privilegierten des belgischen Kolonial-Systems gleich dreimal:
-- 1895 in Luluaburg,
-- 1897 im Nordosten und
-- 1900 in Shinkakasa.

Die erste Meuterei macht 10 Jahre lang das Gebiet zwischen den Seen des Haut-Lualaba und dem Oberlauf desKasai unsicher. In der zweiten meutern ausgerechnet jene Kolonnen, die schon auf dem Marsch in Richtung Nil waren, um die Kolonie zu vergrössern. Der Traum muss begraben werden, und es dauert drei Jahre, bis die Ostprovinz wieder "in Ordnung" ist.

Die dritte Meuterei erregt besonderes Aufsehen, weil sie ausgerechnet am Regierungssitz ausbricht, in Boma.

Erst 1924/25 ist die Periode des militärischen Ruhms am Kongo im wesentlichen vorbei, das Land "befriedet". Auch dann "muss" immer wieder Gewalt eingesetzt werden, um Aufstände niederzuwerfen, oder um jene übertrieben gewalttätigen Strafexpeditionen durchzuführen, die offenbar zum Repertoire aller Kolonialmächte gehören.

[Kongo 1915: Aufstände und belgische "Expeditionen" ohne Ende]

1915 ist ein Rekordjahr für die belgischen "Ordnungs"-Truppen: 21 "Polizei"-Expeditionen, 9 militärische. Der Unterschied zwischen den beiden besteht im wesentlichen darin, dass die "militärischen" noch grösseren Umfang annehmen.

[Kongo 1904: Untersuchungskommission stellt "Kongo-Greuel" fest - "Expedition"=Kriege - wegen Steuern und Bestrafungen - Flucht, Patrouillen+Massenmorde]

Fast immer zeichnen sie sich durch exzessive Brutalität aus, wie 1904 die Untersuchungskommission sagt, die aufgrund der internationalen Proteste gegen die "Kongo-Greuel" gebildet worden ist.

Diese Kommission enthält sich bemerkenswerterweise jedes Urteils über "Expeditionen zur Unterwerfung der Eingeborenen oder Befriedung ihrer Revolten. Solche Operationen (meint sie) waren in Wirklichkeit Kriegsakte, die wir nicht zu beurteilen hatten. Aber wir glauben, auf die übermässige Anwendung von militärischen Expeditionen aufmerksam machen zu müssen, die den Charakter von Kriegsoperationen haben. Sie haben sich oft im Zusammenhang mit der Steuererhebung und der Bestrafung von Gesetzesverletzungen ereignet. [S.81]

Es kommt vor, dass die Eingeborenen bei Ankunft der Truppe fliehen und keinerlei Widerstand leisten. Im allgemeinen ist dann die Taktik, das verlassene Dorf oder die benachbarten Plantagen zu besetzen. Vom Hunger getrieben, kehren die Eingeborenen zurück, einzeln oder in kleinen Gruppen. Dann werden sie festgenommen. Man bemüht sich, die Häuptlinge und die Würdenträger zu fassen.

Aber es kommt auch vor, dass die Eingeborenen nicht gleich wieder erscheinen. In diesem Fall werden im allgemeinen Patrouillen ausgeschickt, die den Busch durchsuchen, mit dem Auftrag, die Eingeborenen, die sie treffen, herzubringen. Im Verlauf solcher Patrouillen werden die meisten Morde begangen, die man den Soldaten des Staates vorwirft. Wir wollen jene Operationen erwähnen, die man 'Strafexpeditionen' genannt hat. Ihr ziel ist exemplarische Bestrafung eines Dorfes oder einer Eingeborenengruppe, von denen sich einige (unbekannt gebliebene) eines Verbrechens oder eines ernstes Verstosses gegen die Autorität des Staates schuldig gemacht haben sollen. Die Folgen sind manchmal mörderisch gewesen. Wenn der Befehl zu bestrafen von einer obersten Stelle kommt, ist es schwer, die Expedition nicht in Massaker ausarten zu lassen, die von Plünderung und Brandstiftung begleitet sind. So verstanden, schiesst die militärische Aktion stets über das Ziel hinaus, und die Strafe steht in flagrantem Missverhältnis zum Vergehen. Sie bezieht die Unschuldigen und die Schuldigen in die gleiche Repression ein."

Soweit der Bericht von 1904.

*

[S.82]

Artikel über den brutalen, "christlich"-belgischen Kolonialismus in Afrika im Belgisch-Kongo 23.11.2019: Belgien sieht sich mit dem brutalen kolonialen Erbe Leopolds II. konfrontiert (ENGL orig.: Belgium begins to face brutal colonial legacy of Leopold II) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/23/belgium-begins-to-face-brutal-colonial-legacy-of-leopold-ii A century after millions died in Congo, attitudes (and street names) are changing Daniel Boffey (link) - Brussels Sat 23 Nov 2019 16.35 CET Last modified on Sat 23 Nov 2019 19.40 CET In the last years of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, King Leopold II of Belgium ruled the Congo Free State with a tyranny that was peculiarly brutal even by the cruel and deeply racist standards of European colonialism in Africa. He ran the country – now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo – as a personal fiefdom, looting ivory and rubber and murdering millions before the international community stepped in to demand he bequeath the country to the Belgian state. Yet debate over his legacy has remained muted in Belgium, where hundreds of roads are named after the king along with memorials dedicated to his memory and glory. Now, under pressure from a growing movement that believes Belgium needs to confront its past, attitudes in the corridors of power are starting to change. As part of a belated reckoning with its colonial history, museums are showcasing sins that were previously overlooked, the tone of history books in school is shifting and, in a development unthinkable until recently, cities have started to remove street signs commemorating Leopold II and openly denounce his legacy. Congo: 2 children without right hand, amputaded by criminal "Christian" colonial forces of Belgium [1] The council of Kortrijk, in west Flanders, has said it is renaming its Leopold II Laan [avenue] on the grounds the monarch was a “mass murderer”. Officials in Dendermonde, a Flemish city 20 miles north of Brussels, said they were changing a similarly named street to simply Leopold Laan to avoid further “shame” for residents. Elsewhere, a working group in Ghent is considering the city’s role in Belgium’s colonial past and whether it remains appropriate to have a Leopold II Laan. The mayor of Bruges, Dirk de Fauw, said he was assessing the situation. “If other cities start with it, it could trigger a chain reaction, but there are no plans yet,” he told the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper. While some municipalities are holding out, the reappraisal offers further evidence of a sea change in how the colonial history is viewed. Those resistant to change are likely to come under more pressure when a Hollywood film, based on a best-selling book 20 years ago that highlighted Leopold’s bloody rule of the Congo Free State, is released. Last week it was announced Ben Affleck would be producing and directing the film inspired by Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost. Earlier this year a UN working group concluded in its preliminary report that, nearly six decades after the newly named DRC gained independence from Belgium, many of the country’s institutions remained racist and the state needed to apologise for the sins of its past as a step towards reform. The then prime minister Charles Michel said the government would respond when the UN filed its final report, although he expressed some surprise at the findings. Activists say an important step towards acknowledging the past was made last year when Brussels named a square in honour of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the DRC, who was assassinated in 1961 with the connivance of the Belgian government. It had taken 10 years of campaigning by the Congolese diaspora and others for the city authority to give its approval. Panels giving information about Leopold II have also been attached to most of his statues in recent years. Jeroen Robbe, of the anti-racism group the Labo vzw said too many municipal leaders were still failing to show moral leadership: “The fact they are taking this so lightly indicates a blind spot that we have in our own history. Brussels with Lumumba Square [2] “Not a priority? Nobody would dare say that about a Stalinstraat or a Hitlerstraat. The difference is not the size of the horror, but the skin colour of the victims. You have to change the street names and add an explanation to it, so that we don’t hide away the past.” In Kortrijk, the council said it was also renaming a street marking the life of Cyriel Verschaeve, a Flemish nationalist priest, and collaborator during the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Alderman Axel Ronse said: “Leopold II was a mass murderer and Cyriel Verschaeve a collaborator. We will support companies and residents who may be affected by the new street names in the future.”

Artikel über den brutalen, "christlich"-belgischen Kolonialismus in Afrika im Belgisch-Kongo 13.6.2020: Leopold II.: Belgien "erwacht" hinsichtlich seiner blutigen kolonialen Vergangenheit (ENGL: Leopold II: Belgium 'wakes up' to its bloody colonial past) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53017188 Inside the palatial walls of Belgium's Africa Museum stand statues of Leopold II - each one a monument to the king whose rule killed as many as 10 million Africans. Standing close by, one visitor said, "I didn't know anything about Leopold II until I heard about the statues defaced down town". The museum is largely protected by heritage law but, in the streets outside, monuments to a monarch who seized a huge swathe of Central Africa in 1885 have no such security. Last week a statue of Leopold II in the city of Antwerp was set on fire, before authorities took it down. Statues have been daubed with red paint in Ghent and Ostend and pulled down in Brussels. Leopold II's rule in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo was so bloody it was eventually condemned by other European colonialists in 1908 - but it has taken far longer to come under scrutiny at home. Brussels Africa Muesum, the statue of Leopold II organizing mass murder torture amputation and discrimination actions in Congo and Ruanda [3] Getty Images Before a renovation in 2018, Belgium's Africa Museum was known as the world's "last colonial museum" Last week thousands in the country of 11 million joined solidarity protests about the killing of US black man George Floyd in police custody. A renewed global focus on racism is highlighting a violent colonial history that generated riches for Belgians but death and misery for Congolese. "Everyone is waking up from a sleep, it's a reckoning with the past," explains Debora Kayembe, a Congolese human rights lawyer who has lived in Belgium. Statues defaced and removed Like statues of racist historical figures vandalised or removed in Britain and the US, Leopold II's days on Belgian streets could now be numbered. On Monday the University of Mons removed a bust of the late king, following the circulation of a student-led petition saying it represented the "rape, mutilation and genocide of millions of Congolese". Joëlle Sambi Nzeba, a Belgian-Congolese poet and spokesperson for the Belgian Network for Black Lives, says the statues tell her she is "less than a regular Belgian". Brussels 1919 about: demonstration of "Black lives matter" [4] Getty Images Thousands marched in Black Lives Matter protests in Belgium "When I walk in a city that in every corner glorifies racism and colonialism, it tells me that me and my history are not valid," she explains from the capital. For activists the holy grail is the giant statue of Leopold II on horseback at the gates of the Royal Palace in Brussels. A petition calling on the city for its removal has reached 74,000 signatures. "I will dance if it comes down. I never imagined this happening in my lifetime," Ms Kayembe adds. It would be "really significant for Congolese people, especially those whose families perished," she explains. She does not believe it will not be quick or easy. There are at least 13 statues to Leopold II in Belgium, according to one crowd-sourced map, and numerous parks, squares and street names. Warning: This piece contains graphic pictures One visitor to the Africa Museum, where an outdoor statue was defaced last week, disagreed with the idea of removing them - "they're part of history," he explained. A king who still commands praise On Friday the younger brother of Belgium's King Philippe, Prince Laurent, defended his ancestor saying Leopold II was not responsible for atrocities in the colony "because he never went to Congo". The royal palace is yet to give its own response. For many years Leopold II was widely known as a leader who defended Belgium's neutrality in the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian war and commissioned public works fit for a modern nation. Antwerp: The Jesus fantasy king Leopold II with his mass murders+torture+amputation+discriminations in Congo and Ruanda gets his account [5] Reuters This TV image shows a statue of Leopold defaced and damaged by fire being removed in Antwerp In 2010, former Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel and the father of future prime minister Charles Michel, called Leopold "a hero with ambitions for a small country like Belgium". In a TV debate this week, a former president of the Free University of Brussels, Hervé Hasquin, argued there were "positive aspects" to colonisation, listing the health system, infrastructure, and primary education he said Belgium brought to Central Africa. Colony built on forced labour and brutality "Civilisation" was at the core of Leopold II's pitch to European leaders in 1885 when they sliced up and allocated territories in what became known as the Scramble for Africa. He promised a humanitarian and philanthropic mission that would improve the lives of Africans. Congo: Belgium "Christian" colonialism under Leopold II had hand's "amputation" as a standard "solution" with African children for punishment of something [1] Getty Images Colonial officials amputated and mutilated Congolese people, including children, as punishment In return European leaders, gathered at the Berlin Conference, granted him 2m sq km (770,000 sq miles) to forge a personal colony where he was free to do as he liked. He called it Congo Free State. It quickly became a brutal, exploitative regime that relied on forced labour to cultivate and trade rubber, ivory and minerals. Archive pictures from Congo Free State document its violence and brutality. Congo with "Christian" Belgium colonialism under Jesus fantasy king Leopold II: chopped hands on the floor [7] Alamy A now infamous photo capturing atrocities committed in Congo Free State In one, a man sits on a low platform looking at a dismembered small foot and small hand. They belonged to his five-year-old daughter, who was later killed when her village did not produce sufficient rubber. She was not unique - chopping off the limbs of enslaved Congolese was a routine form of retribution when Leopold II's quotas were not met. Colonial administrators also kidnapped orphaned children from communities and transported them to "child colonies" to work or train as soldiers. Estimates suggest more than 50% died there. Killings, famine and disease combined to cause the deaths of perhaps 10 million people, though historians dispute the true number. Leopold II may never have set foot there, but he poured the profits into Belgium and into his pockets. He built the Africa Museum in the grounds of his palace at Tervuren, with a "human zoo" in the grounds featuring 267 Congolese people as exhibits.    Belgien: Afrikaner aus dem Kongo werden in "christlichen" Kleidern in einem Zoo ausgestellt, 1897 [8] RMCA Tervuren; A. Gautier, 1897 Congolese people were forced to be human exhibits in a "zoo" in Belgium in 1897 But rumours of abuse began to circulate and missionaries and British journalist Edmund Dene Morel exposed the regime. By 1908, Leopold II's rule was deemed so cruel that European leaders, themselves violently exploiting Africa, condemned it and the Belgian parliament forced him to relinquish control of his fiefdom. Belgium took over the colony in 1908 and it was not until 1960 that the Republic of the Congo was established, after a fight for independence. Democratic Republic of Congo country profile When Leopold II died in 1909, he was buried to the sound of Belgians booing. Belgium in Congo: A Jesus fantasy missionary shows an African Congo child without right hand which was amputated [9] Alamy Missionaries documented amputations while investigating abuses committed in Congo Free State But in the chaos of the early 20th Century when World War One threatened to destroy Belgium, Leopold II's nephew King Albert I erected statues to remember the successes of years gone by. This makeover of Leopold's image produced an amnesia that persisted for decades. Calls for apologies The current protests are not the first time Belgium's ugly history in Congo has been contested in the streets. In 2019, the cities of Kortrijk and Dendermonde renamed their Leopold II streets, with Kortrijk council describing the king as a "mass murderer". And in 2018, Brussels named a public square in honour of Patrice Lumumba, a hero of African independence movements and the first prime minister of Congo, since renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. Brussels: Congo independence gets an own Lumumba square commemorating Patrice Lumumba the first Prime Minister of Congo [2] Getty Images Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba is commemorated in a Brussels square Last year a UN working group called on Belgium to apologise for atrocities committed during the colonial era. Charles Michel, prime minister at the time, declined. He did however apologise for the kidnapping of thousands of mixed-race children, known as métis, from Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda in the 1940s and 1950s. Around 20,000 children born to Belgian settlers and local women were forcibly taken to Belgium to be fostered. The children sent to a 'holiday camp' never to come back What next for the statues? Statues of Leopold II should now be housed in museums to teach Belgian history, suggests Mireille-Tsheusi Robert, director of anti-racism NGO Bamko Cran. After all, destroying the iconography of Adolf Hitler did not mean the history of Nazi Germany was forgotten, she points out. Belgien: Auderghem bei Brüssel: Die Büste des Jesus-Fantasie-Königs Leopold II. wurde entfernt [10] AFP This bust of Leopold II was removed on Friday in Auderghem, near Brussels In Kinshasa, the capital of DR Congo, Leopold II's statues were moved to the National Museum. "Leopold II certainly does not deserve a statue in the public domain," agrees Bambi Ceuppens, scientific commissioner at the Africa Museum. But taking the monument away does not solve the problem of racism, she believes, while creating one museum devoted to the statues would not be useful either. In DR Congo itself, no-one has really noticed the Belgian protests, says Jules Mulamba, a lawyer in the south-eastern city of Lubambashi. He attributes colonial crimes to the king himself, rather than the Belgian people or state. Beyond removal of statues, far more work is required to dismantle racism, protesters and black communities argue. For decades, colonial history has been barely taught in Belgium. Many classrooms still have Hergé's famous cartoon book Tintin in the Congo, with its depictions of black people now commonly accepted as extremely racist. Belgium's education minister announced this week that secondary schools would teach colonial history from next year. "It's a good thing that everyone is waking up, looking around and thinking 'is this right?'" says Ms Kayembe.

Artikel über den brutalen, "christlich"-belgischen Kolonialismus in Afrika im Belgisch-Kongo 8.6.2022: Belgischer König drückt "tiefstes Bedauern" über Menschenrechtsverletzungen in der DR Kongo aus: (ENGL: Belgian king expresses ‘deepest regrets’ for abuses in DR Congo) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/8/belgian-king-returns-mask-in-visit-to-dr-congo-alongside-pm Philippe is the first Belgian official to express regret for atrocities inflicted on the Congolese, but he is yet to apologise. Belgium’s King Philippe has reaffirmed his “deepest regrets” for his nation’s colonial-era abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but stopped short of formally apologising, again. The king, who was in the DRC on his first official trip to the country, told its legislature on Wednesday that Belgian colonial rule was unjustifiable and racist. “Even though many Belgians invested themselves sincerely, loving Congo and its people deeply, the colonial regime itself was based on exploitation and domination,” he told a joint session of parliament in the capital, Kinshasa. “This regime was one of unequal relations, unjustifiable in itself, marked by paternalism, discrimination and racism,” he said. “It led to violent acts and humiliations. On the occasion of my first trip to Congo, right here, in front of the Congolese people and those who still suffer today, I wish to reaffirm my deepest regrets for those wounds of the past.” His speech comes two years after he made similar comments on the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence, when he went further than any of his predecessors in condemning “acts of violence and cruelty” during Belgian colonial rule. By some estimates, killings, famine and disease killed up to 10 million Congolese during the first 23 years of Belgium’s rule from 1885 to 1960, when King Leopold II ruled the Congo Free State as a personal fiefdom. Villages that missed rubber collection quotas were notoriously made to provide severed hands instead. [Mixed Children were separated from their parents but they are organizing themselves now at The Hague] Video: https://youtu.be/qWBeriLZmr0 -- Belgium racist ["Christian"] colonial law forbid mixed marriages and mixed children so the mixed children were separated from their parents and had to grow up without parents -- 1000s of mixed children were robbed from their parents educating them in ["Christian"] orphanages or were deported to ["Christian"] Belgium to be grown up in Belgium by force -- deported mixed children in ["Christian"] Belgium are organizing themselves now and want compensation before the Human Rights Court of The Hague -- also Ruanda was a ["Christian"] Belgium colony after 1919 with this racist colonial law ‘Regrets are not enough’ While some Congolese praised the Belgian king’s remarks as brave, others were disappointed by the absence of an apology. “I salute the speech by the Belgian king. However, in the face of the crimes committed by Belgium, regrets are not enough,” Congolese opposition Senator Francine Muyumba Nkanga wrote on Twitter. “We expect an apology and a promise of reparations from him. That is the price to definitively turn the page,” she said. Nadia Nsayi, a political scientist specialised in the Congo, said she sensed “a lot of nervousness in Belgium regarding a formal apology as Congo might use it to demand financial reparations”. Others called it a “distraction”. “Belgium must ask for forgiveness from the Congolese people but also compensate them,” said Francis Kambale, a 26-year-old student living in Goma in the country’s east. “Our grandparents were beaten like animals, others were killed. But also many minerals and cultural goods were stolen by Belgium. This visit by the Belgian king is a distraction. Congo does not benefit in any way nor does it improve the economic conditions of the Congolese.” Video: https://youtu.be/HPH7Jo7MSEs Philippe arrived on Tuesday with his wife, Queen Mathilde, and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo for a week-long visit. DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and many politicians have enthusiastically welcomed Philippe’s visit. As the king addressed legislators, large numbers of ruling party supporters waved Belgian flags, and a banner hanging from parliament read: “A common history.” Tshisekedi said during a brief news conference with De Croo that he was focused on boosting cooperation with Belgium to attract investment and improve healthcare in Congo. Relations had soured under Tshisekedi’s predecessor, Joseph Kabila, whom Brussels criticised for suppressing dissent and extending his time in power beyond legal limits. “We have not dwelled on the past, which is the past and which is not to be reconsidered, but we need to look to the future,” Tshisekedi said. Philippe earlier offered a traditional mask of the Suku people to Congo’s national museum as an “indefinite loan”. The mask has been held for decades by Belgium’s Royal Museum for Central Africa. Belgium has traditionally said little about colonialism, and the subject has not been extensively taught in Belgian schools. By contrast, Germany last year apologised to Namibia for its role in the slaughter of Herero and Nama tribespeople more than a century ago, officially described it as genocide for the first time and agreed to fund projects worth over a billion euros. There have been the beginnings of a historical reckoning in Belgium in recent years. During anti-racism protests sparked in 2020 by the police killing in the United States of George Floyd, demonstrators targeted statues of King Leopold II. But there have been the beginnings of a historical reckoning in recent years. During anti-racism protests in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by police in the United States, demonstrators targeted statues of King Leopold II. Belgium’s parliament established a commission soon after to examine the historical record. A preliminary report published last year called for a more accurate understanding of the colonial period, and the final report is expected this year. De Croo said Belgium was committed to an honest accounting of its past. “We all know that, in that long relationship between the countries, there was a period that was painful, painful for the Congolese population,” he said. “I think it’s important to look at that straight in the eyes.” Belgium will also hand over a tooth, suspected to be the only remains of Congo’s first prime minister Patrice Lumumba, to his family this month. The Belgian government took partial responsibility in 2002 for the death of Lumumba, who was assassinated by Belgian-backed secessionists in 1961. Source: News Agencies

Artikel über den brutalen, "christlich"-belgischen Kolonialismus in Afrika im Belgisch-Kongo 9.6.2022: Die schlimmsten belgischen kolonialen Gräueltaten, die die Kongolesen nicht vergessen können (ENGL: The worst Belgian colonial atrocities that Congolese can't forget) https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/the-worst-belgian-colonial-atrocities-that-congolese-can-t-forget-57839 Although the Belgian King has expressed his "deepest regrets" for the conduct of his ancestors in DR Congo, many say he has fallen short of apologising on behalf of his ancestors, who have brutalised Congolese people during the Belgian colonialism. Belgium's King Philippe has not apologised for the exploitation, racism and acts of violence during his country's colonisation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Rather he chose convey his “deepest regrets” for the colonial humiliation and punishment meted out to the Congolese people.  Philippe became the first Belgian official two years ago to express regret for colonisation, and some Congolese hoped he would issue a formal apology during his first visit to Congo since taking the throne in 2013. "Even though many Belgians invested themselves sincerely, loving Congo and its people deeply, the colonial regime itself was based on exploitation and domination," King Philippe told a joint session of parliament in the capital Kinshasa of DRC. "This regime was one of unequal relations, unjustifiable in itself, marked by paternalism, discrimination and racism." "It led to violent acts and humiliations. On the occasion of my first trip to Congo, right here, in front of the Congolese people and those who still suffer today, I wish to reaffirm my deepest regrets for those wounds of the past," he added.  Although the Belgian King has started to face his country’s colonial background, not using “apology” disappointed some people who expected it. This mask is one of 84,000 cultural artifacts looted from Congo by Belgium. Imagine? King Philippe expressed his "deepest regret" at his ancestor King Leopold's murderous reign that saw the death of 10 million Congolese. No proper apology. These Belgians are not sorry. https://t.co/GzYhFnlNFw — AfricanJesu (@AfricanJesu) June 9, 2022 Here are some atrocities that commited by Belgium during colonial rule in DRC during the 19th and 20th centuries. Death of 10 million Congolese According to some estimates, killings, famine and disease caused the deaths of up to 10 million Congolese during just the first 23 years of Belgium's rule from 1885 to 1960, when King Leopold II ruled the Congo Free State as a personal fiefdom. King Leopold II has  carved his own private colony out of 100km2 of Central African rainforest by claiming to protect  the "natives" from Arab slavers.  However, he has started horrific atrocities on the African continent. During his colonial rule, the population of Congo estimately had fallen by half to 10 million. Rape and torment King Leopold II has turned the colonised lands into a massive labour camp, and made a big fortune for himself from the harvest of wild rubber. The rubber harvest in Congo directly contributed to Belgium’s rising economic power.  However, this fortune comes not only from harvesting local sources but also from human capital from the region. By pushing locals to produce more, Congolese people worked and lived in brutal conditions and they had to meet “quotas.” Many people were raped and tormented by colonial forces at the time. Chopping hands and feets King Leopold II cut the hands and feets of people who resisted him, and even the children and wives of the men who couldn’t meet their “quotas” met the same fate. According to Belgian colonial rulers, chopping is a kind of punishment to prove their superiority to the Congolese. Belgium found a brutal solution to quell unrest and Congolese soldiers were obliged to prove that they were not wasting costly ammunition by providing one cut hand of any native rebel they killed. The brutal crimes of Belgium, which more or less started in 1885 were first revealed by the journalist Edmund Dene Morel at the beginning of the 20th Century.  Morel made a huge effort to spread the word about what was happening in Belgium’s colony. He revealed photos of forced labour, murders, child soldiers, handless people, torture and genocide in the Congo Free State.   In 2020, the statue of the infamous King Leopold II was removed by protesters from a public square in the city of Antwerp in Belgium during worldwide protests against the West’s racist colonial past.

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