Belgium Found Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity in Congo

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Facts

  • Belgium's Court of Appeals Monday found the state guilty of crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo under its colonial rule, where the administration forcibly separated children from mothers and took them to orphanages.[1][2]
  • The court ruled that five Belgian Congolese-born women were victims of "systematic kidnapping" and were placed in Catholic institutions because of their mixed race. It ordered reparations of €50K ($53K) to each for "moral" or emotional harm.[3][4]
  • The women, now in their 70s and 80s, sued the state in 2020 amid growing demands for Belgium to reassess former King Leopold II's regime under which millions reportedly died in Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.[5][6]
  • Monique Bitu Bingi, Léa Tavares Mujinga, Noëlle Verbeken, Simone Ngalula, and Marie-José Loshi filed the case seeking compensation. The number of such biracial children from former Belgian colonies is estimated to be around 15K.[7][8]
  • The women's lawyers argued that the state sought to prevent interracial unions, isolating the "children of shame" so they wouldn't claim links with Belgium. This was the first such case related to children in interracial families.[5][8]
  • In 2021, a lower court rejected the case of the "métis" — the term for such children separated between 1908 and 1960. But the appellate judge concluded that Belgium had carried out "an inhumane act of persecution," ordering the compensation.[9][10]

Sources: [1]RFI, [2]Brussels Times, [3]The Guardian, [4]POLITICO, [5]ABC News, [6]eNCA, [7]BBC News, [8]France 24, [9]Associated Press and [10]DW.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by LSE International Development and BBC News. Acknowledging the profound harm caused by colonial exploitation, former imperial powers must confront their histories and make reparations — financial and symbolic — to their victims. Reparations are not mere charity but a moral obligation to redress stolen wealth, lives, and dignity. They can begin to heal the enduring scars of imperial violence and injustice.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Medium and UnHerd. The call for reparations faces insurmountable barriers of fairness, practicality, and historical nuance. Deciding eligibility amid a tapestry of mixed ancestries and global migrations just creates endless disputes. Solutions should prioritize broad, forward-looking strategies to combat systemic inequities rather than abstract arguments to provide concrete financial compensation.