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Congo-Kinshasa: Retracing Belgium's Dark Past in the Congo, and Attempts to Forge Deeper Ties
The Conversation Africa, 12 June 2022
Belgian King Philippe and his wife Queen Mathilde recently led a delegation on a week-long visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The trip was billed as a chance to… Read more »
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Congo-Kinshasa: Belgian King Meets Veteran, Returns Suku Mask to DR Congo
DW, 8 June 2022
During a visit to DR Congo, Belgium's King Philippe decorated a WWII veteran and returned a Congolese mask to a museum in Kinshasa. His six-day trip is aimed at healing the wounds… Read more »
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Congo-Kinshasa: Belgium's King Philippe 'Regrets' Colonial-Era Abuses
RFI, 9 June 2022
Belgium's King Philippe expressed his "deepest regrets" for the pain inflicted during his country's colonisation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but stopped short of formally… Read more »
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Congo-Kinshasa: Colonial Crimes - Experts Recommend That Belgium Compensate
JusticeInfo.net, 2 November 2021
"Monetary payment of a colonial debt, in light of Belgium's moral responsibility". This is one of the strong recommendations in an expert report published on October 27. For a… Read more »
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Congo-Kinshasa: Last Remains of Independence Hero Lumumba to Return Home
RFI, 23 May 2021
Sixty years after Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba was assassinated and dissolved in acid, former colonial power Belgium is to restore his last remains - a single… Read more »
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Congo-Kinshasa: From Leopold to Tshisekedi With Blood
This Day, 30 March 2021
President Tshisekedi must lead Africa against all forms of victimisation and terrorism. Read more »
Belgian King in DR Congo For Historic Visit
Belgium's King Philippe arrived in the DR Congo on June 7, 2022 - his first visit since succeeding his father King Albert II on July 21, 2013. The monarch's visit comes two years after he apologised for atrocities committed during Belgium's brutal colonial era.
The six-day trip has been billed as a chance for reconciliation between the two nations.
The Belgian delegation will meet with President Felix Tshisekedi to discuss the colonial past as well as current political relations.
Historians have said that millions of people in the Belgian Congo were killed, mutilated or died of disease as they worked on rubber plantations belonging to Leopold II, Belgium's monarch from 1865-1909 and the brother of Philippe's great-great-grandfather.
King Philippe's visit was originally scheduled for June 2020 to mark the DR Congo's 60th year of independence, but was rescheduled to 2022 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
InFocus
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Belgium's King Philippe has expressed his "deepest regrets" to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the abuses committed under colonial rule. It marks a first in Belgium's history, ... Read more »
Belgian King Philippe and DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi at the Royal Palace in 2019 (file photo).
