Belgian king’s Congo ‘regrets’ stir calls for reparations

CONGOLESE politicians have demanded Belgium pays reparations after the Belgian king expressed remorse for the brutal colonial occupation of the African country for the first time.

King Philippe offered his “deepest regrets” in a letter to Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the 60th anniversary of independence on Tuesday.

Philippe’s great-great-great-uncle Leopold II ruled a region containing the whole of the DRC as a private rubber-producing slave state. More than 10million Africans are estimated to have died in a “forgotten holocaust”.

The king was forced to surrender direct control of the Congo Free State in 1908 and Belgium formally annexed it, calling it the Belgian Congo until independence in 1960.

Pierre Kompany, Belgium’s first black mayor, who moved to the country from the DRC as a child, praised King Philippe.

“In 60 years, no one has done what he has done. In the 60 years since independence, he is the first to express his deep regrets,” said Mr Kompany. “We must take that in a positive way and advance forward together.”

André Lité, the DRC human rights minister, compared colonialisation to slavery. “Why not consider, very seriously, reparations for the victims, their relatives, especially for serious crimes?” he said

In his letter, King Phillipe said: “Acts of violence and atrocity were committed that continue to weigh on our collective memory. I continue to express my deepest regrets for past wounds.”

Martin Fayulu, an unsuccessful DRC presidential candidate, told Le Monde

Afrique the apology was “incomplete”. The Belgian parliament will set up a truth and reconciliation commission to examine the atrocities of colonisation, which could lead to a formal apology.

The United Nations has said racism suffered by those of African origin in Belgium can be traced to the country’s failure to address its past.

The NGO Human Rights Watch called on Belgium to move from “regrets to reparations”.

The death of George Floyd began a debate in Belgium over statues, monuments and place names celebrating Leopold, which have been vandalised.

Mr Kompany said the parliamentary commission would discuss the statues and related matters in “calmness and serenity”.