King regrets brutal colonial past in Congo BELGIUM
BRUSSELS — King Philippe of Belgium on Tuesday expressed his “deepest regrets” for his country’s brutal past in a letter to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first public acknowledgment from a member of the Belgian royal family of the devastating human and financial toll during eight decades of colonization.
The king’s letter, issued on the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence, acknowledged the historical legacy and pointed out continuing issues of racism and discrimination, though it stopped short of the apology that some, including the United Nations, had asked for.
“I want to express my deepest regrets for the wounds of the past, the pain of which is revived today by discriminations that are still too present in our societies,” the king wrote in the letter sent to President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The king would, he added, “continue to fight against all forms of racism.”
The letter, which was followed by a statement from Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès of Belgium urging her country to “look its past in the face,” is part of the European nation’s newfound willingness to address its vicious colonial past.
In an address Monday, Tshisekedi said he was trying to foster a strong relationship with the European country.
“I consider it necessary that our common history with Belgium and its people be told to our children in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as in Belgium on the basis of scientific work carried out by historians of the two countries,” he said.
In addition to the remarks from the king and prime minister, statues of King Leopold II, known for his violent personal rule of what was then the Congo Free State, have been removed from city squares and government buildings across Belgium. On Tuesday, the city of Ghent removed a bust of the former king from public display.
Leopold, an ancestor of King Philippe, extracted wealth from the resourcerich territory in central Africa while inflicting immense harm that led to the deaths of millions.
Almost 10,000 people demonstrated in Brussels against racism in June in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. Some protesters climbed on a statue of King Leopold II and flew a giant flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo, chanting “murderer” and “reparations,” repeating a demand for the Belgian state to pay damages to the Democratic Republic of Congo.