Expressing his “deepest regrets” to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the acts of cruelty committed during the years that his ancestor, Leopold II, presided over the DRC, Belgian King Philippe has made a formal apology.
On the 60th anniversary of DR Congo’s independence, the reigning monarch conveyed his comments in a letter to President Félix Tshisekedi.
Belgium maintained control over the central African country from the 19th Century until it gained independence in 1960.
Historians estimate that millions of Africans died during Belgium’s colonial rule, with the population of the Congo Free State possibly halving to around 10 million people during Leopold II’s reign over the territory as his private property.
The country and its people endured exploitation for natural resources, particularly rubber.
Addressing President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday, June 30, King Philippe expressed deep regret for the past injuries and the enduring pain caused by prevailing discriminations in society.
The 60-year-old monarch also apologized for the suffering and humiliation experienced after the end of Leopold II’s administration of the Congo Free State (1885 to 1908 ) when the country became Belgian Congo.
“I would like to express my deepest regrets for these injuries of the past, the pain of which is now revived by the discrimination still too present in our societies,” wrote King Philippe in the letter.
“I will continue to fight all forms of racism. I encourage the reflection that has been initiated by our parliament so that our memory is definitively pacified.”
Following the death of George Floyd in police custody in the US and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, there has been a renewed focus on the European nation’s history. In recent weeks, thousands of Belgians have demonstrated, and statues of Belgium’s colonial leader King Leopold II have been vandalised. Authorities in Antwerp have also removed a statue of him from a public square.
