‘Nothing short of genocide’: DR Congo marks 60 years since independence – but has Belgium atoned for its bloody legacy?

Belgium is facing a long-overdue reckoning of its dark past in Congo with its problems with systemic racism and ignorance over its colonial past now under fresh scrutiny, Leo Cendrowicz reports

A woman holds a DRC flag as independence day is celebrated in Brussels (Pool/AFP/Getty)

At the side gates of Belgium’s Royal Palace in Brussels stands a giant statue of King Leopold II astride a horse. The monarch, who reigned from 1865 until 1909, is said to have never liked horses, but that equestrian anomaly is far from the statue’s main contention. It is rather the dark chapter of Belgian history that he represents; Leopold seized Congo, enslaved its people, pillaged its resources, and left a death toll in the millions. The former colony, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), celebrates 60 years of independence on Tuesday. However, it is only recently that Belgians have begun atoning for what they did there.

King Philippe today took a step towards acknowledging the sins of his ancestor when he issued a statement expressing his “deepest regret” for the wounds of the colonial past, and the “acts of violence and cruelty committed” in Congo under Belgian occupation. Writing to the DRC’s president Felix Tshisekedi, the king added, “We must be able to talk to each other about our long common history in all truth and serenity.”

Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmes went further, announcing that the parliament’s forthcoming truth and reconciliation commission would examine “without taboos” the country’s colonial history. “The time has come for Belgium to take a journey towards the truth,” she said.