In a speech outside the Democratic Republic of Congo’s parliament, Philippe amplified remorse he first voiced two years ago over Belgium’s brutal colonial rule — an era that historians say saw millions die.<\/p>\n
“This regime was one of an unequal relationship, in itself unjustifiable, marked by paternalism, discriminations and racism,” Philippe said, speaking in French.<\/p>\n
“It led to abuse and humiliation,” he said.<\/p>\n
The king noted that many Belgians had been sincerely committed to the Congo and its people, however.<\/p>\n
Philippe landed in Kinshasa on Tuesday afternoon for a six-day visit, billed as a chance for reconciliation between the DRC and its former colonial master.<\/p>\n
Belgium’s colonisation of the Congo was one of the harshest imposed by the European powers that ruled most of Africa in the late 19th and 20th centuries.<\/p>\n
King Leopold II, the brother of Philippe’s great great grandfather, governed what is now the DRC as his personal property between 1885 and 1908, before it became a Belgian colony.<\/p>\n
Historians say that millions of people were killed, mutilated or died of disease as they were forced to collect rubber under his rule.<\/p>\n
The land was also pillaged for its mineral wealth, timber and ivory.<\/p>\n
As the DRC headed to its 60th anniversary of indepence, Philippe wrote a letter to Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in 2020 to express his “deepest regrets” for the “wounds of the past.”<\/p>\n
The king’s speech Wednesday went further in expressing regret, but it fell short of an apology for colonial-era crimes.<\/p>\n
Looted art<\/p>\n
Earlier Wednesday, Philippe visited DRC’s national museum in Kinshasa, where he handed over a mask the ethnic Suku group use in initiation rites.<\/p>\n
The ceremonial mask is on “unlimited” loan from Belgium’s Royal Museum for Central Africa, he announced.<\/p>\n
The Belgian government last year set out a roadmap for returning art works looted during the colonial era, a sensitive topic in the DRC.<\/p>\n
“The coloniser hauled away our artworks, it’s right that they should be returned to us,” said Louis Karhebwa, a 63-year-old businessman.<\/p>\n
Prince Pungi, a young civil servant, agreed. “Congo is changing, moving forward,” he said. “It’s time to take back what belongs to us”.<\/p>\n
Philippe is due to address university students in the southern city of Lubumbashi on Friday.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, he will also visit the clinic of gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, co-winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against sexual violence, in the eastern city of Bukavu.<\/p>\n
His trip comes as Belgium is preparing to return to Kinshasa a tooth — the last remains of Patrice Lumumba, a hero of the anti-colonial struggle and short-lived first prime minister of the independent Congo.<\/p>\n
Lumumba was murdered by Congolese separatists and Belgian mercenaries in 1961 and his body dissolved in acid, but the tooth was kept as a trophy by one of his killers, a Belgian police officer.<\/p>\n
Eastern violence -The Belgian sovereign’s trip also comes at a time of heightened tension between Kinshasa and neighbouring Rwanda over rebel activity in the conflict-torn eastern DRC.<\/p>\n
DRC’s government has accused Rwanda of backing the resurgent M23 militia, an accusation which Rwanda has denied.<\/p>\n
At a news conference in Kinshasa on Wednesday, President Tshisekedi told reporters that he saw security support as a priority in DRC’s relationship with Belgium.<\/p>\n
“There is no development without security,” the president said.<\/p>\n
The DRC, a nation of about 90 million people, is one of the poorest countries in the world.<\/p>\n
Over 120 groups roam the country’s volatile east, many of which are a consequence of regional wars more than two decades ago, and civilian massacres remain common.<\/p>\n
King Philippe, in his speech Wednesday, also said the situation in eastern DRC “cannot continue”.<\/p>\n
“It is the responsibility of all of us to do something about it,” he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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