Belgium takes down statue, king regrets colonial violence
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, is hoisted off of its plinth by a crane as it’s removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
FILE - In this Sunday, June 28, 2020 file photo, Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde pose for a photographer during a royal visit to the Giant’s Tomb in Bouillon, Belgium. For the first time in Belgium’s history, a reigning king has expressed regret for the violence carried out by the former colonial power when it ruled over what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In a letter to the president of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, published Tuesday June 30, 2020 — the 60th anniversary of the African country’s independence — Belgium’s King Philippe conveyed his “deepest regrets” for the “acts of violence and cruelty” and the “suffering and humiliation” inflicted on Belgian Congo. (Julien Warnand, Pool Photo via AP, File)
Belgium’s Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes speaks with the public after unveiling a plaque during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, rests in the back of a truck after being removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Belgium’s Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes prepares to unveil a plaque during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Francisco Seco)
Mayor of Ixelles Christos Doulkeridis, left, speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
Congolese-Belgian artist Pitcho speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, is hoisted off of its plinth by a crane as it’s removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Congolese-Belgian artist Pitcho speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - In this July 22, 1960 file photo, an unidentified Congolese citizen removes a portrait of Belgium’s King Baudouin, at the N’Djili Airport in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this July 4, 1960 file photo, first Prime Minister of the Congo Patrice Lumumba, left, shakes hands with Belgium’s ambassador Jean van den Bosch, right, at a farewell dinner for press representatives who covered the Congo independence ceremonies, in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this June 30, 1961 file photo, Congo celebrates the first anniversary of independence from Belgium with a large military parade in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo/Horst Faas, File)
FILE - In this June 30, 1960 file photo, first Prime Minister of the Congo Patrice Lumumba, left, signs the act of independence of the Congo, with Prime Minister of Belgium Gaston Eyskens, right, in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy, File)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A workman stands by as a bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A workman guides a bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II as it is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, is hoisted off of its plinth by a crane as it’s removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, is hoisted off of its plinth by a crane as it’s removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
FILE - In this Sunday, June 28, 2020 file photo, Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde pose for a photographer during a royal visit to the Giant’s Tomb in Bouillon, Belgium. For the first time in Belgium’s history, a reigning king has expressed regret for the violence carried out by the former colonial power when it ruled over what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In a letter to the president of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, published Tuesday June 30, 2020 — the 60th anniversary of the African country’s independence — Belgium’s King Philippe conveyed his “deepest regrets” for the “acts of violence and cruelty” and the “suffering and humiliation” inflicted on Belgian Congo. (Julien Warnand, Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this Sunday, June 28, 2020 file photo, Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde pose for a photographer during a royal visit to the Giant’s Tomb in Bouillon, Belgium. For the first time in Belgium’s history, a reigning king has expressed regret for the violence carried out by the former colonial power when it ruled over what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In a letter to the president of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, published Tuesday June 30, 2020 — the 60th anniversary of the African country’s independence — Belgium’s King Philippe conveyed his “deepest regrets” for the “acts of violence and cruelty” and the “suffering and humiliation” inflicted on Belgian Congo. (Julien Warnand, Pool Photo via AP, File)
Belgium’s Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes speaks with the public after unveiling a plaque during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Francisco Seco)
Belgium’s Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes speaks with the public after unveiling a plaque during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, rests in the back of a truck after being removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, rests in the back of a truck after being removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Belgium’s Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes prepares to unveil a plaque during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Francisco Seco)
Belgium’s Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes prepares to unveil a plaque during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Francisco Seco)
Mayor of Ixelles Christos Doulkeridis, left, speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
Mayor of Ixelles Christos Doulkeridis, left, speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
Congolese-Belgian artist Pitcho speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
Congolese-Belgian artist Pitcho speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, is hoisted off of its plinth by a crane as it’s removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II, is hoisted off of its plinth by a crane as it’s removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Congolese-Belgian artist Pitcho speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
Congolese-Belgian artist Pitcho speaks during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium in the Brussels district of Matonge, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - In this July 22, 1960 file photo, an unidentified Congolese citizen removes a portrait of Belgium’s King Baudouin, at the N’Djili Airport in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this July 22, 1960 file photo, an unidentified Congolese citizen removes a portrait of Belgium’s King Baudouin, at the N’Djili Airport in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this July 4, 1960 file photo, first Prime Minister of the Congo Patrice Lumumba, left, shakes hands with Belgium’s ambassador Jean van den Bosch, right, at a farewell dinner for press representatives who covered the Congo independence ceremonies, in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this July 4, 1960 file photo, first Prime Minister of the Congo Patrice Lumumba, left, shakes hands with Belgium’s ambassador Jean van den Bosch, right, at a farewell dinner for press representatives who covered the Congo independence ceremonies, in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this June 30, 1961 file photo, Congo celebrates the first anniversary of independence from Belgium with a large military parade in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo/Horst Faas, File)
FILE - In this June 30, 1961 file photo, Congo celebrates the first anniversary of independence from Belgium with a large military parade in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo/Horst Faas, File)
FILE - In this June 30, 1960 file photo, first Prime Minister of the Congo Patrice Lumumba, left, signs the act of independence of the Congo, with Prime Minister of Belgium Gaston Eyskens, right, in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy, File)
FILE - In this June 30, 1960 file photo, first Prime Minister of the Congo Patrice Lumumba, left, signs the act of independence of the Congo, with Prime Minister of Belgium Gaston Eyskens, right, in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa, in Congo. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Congo is marking the 60th anniversary of achieving independence from the colonial rule of Belgium. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy, File)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A workman stands by as a bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A workman stands by as a bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A workman guides a bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II as it is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A workman guides a bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II as it is set into the back of a truck after being hoisted off of its plinth and removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Protests sweeping the world after George Floyd’s death in the U.S. have added fuel to a movement to confront Europe’s role in the slave trade and its colonial past. Leopold II is increasingly seen as a stain on the nation where he reigned from 1865 to 1909 with some demonstrators calling for his removal from public view. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium confronted its colonial past and looked toward reconciliation Tuesday, with the king expressing regret for the violence carried out by the country when it ruled over what is now Congo. Later in the day, the bust of a former monarch held responsible for the death of millions of Africans was taken off public display.
As Belgium marked the 60th anniversary of the end of its colonial rule in Congo, King Philippe’s words had resounding significance since none of his predecessors went so far as to convey remorse.
In a letter to the Congolese president, Felix Tshisekedi, Philippe stopped short of issuing a formal apology, but proclaimed his “deepest regrets” for the “acts of violence and cruelty” and the “suffering and humiliation” inflicted on Belgian Congo.
The removal of King Leopold II’s statue took place only hours after Philippe’s letter was published. The monarch, who ruled Belgium from 1865-1909, plundered Congo as if it were his personal fiefdom, forcing many of its people into slavery to extract resources for his own profit.
The early years after he laid claim to the African country are especially infamous for killings, forced labor and other forms of brutality that some experts estimate left as many as 10 million Congolese dead.
Following a short ceremony punctuated by readings, Leopold’s bust in Ghent was attached to a crane with a strap and taken away from the small park where it stood amid applause. It will be transferred to a warehouse of a Ghent city museum pending further decision from a city’s commission in charge of decolonization projects.
“Removing statues does not erase history, it rectifies history and makes new history that rightly calls into question dominant narratives,” said Mathieu Charles, an activist from the Belgian Network for Black Lives.
Belgium has long struggled to come to terms with its colonial past, instead focusing on the so-called positive aspects of the colonization. But the international protests against racism that followed the May 25 death of George Floyd in the United States have given a new momentum to activists fighting to have monuments to Leopold removed.
Earlier this month, about 10,000 people gathered in Brussels despite the social distancing measures implemented to fight the spread of COVID-19, with many protesters chanting anti-colonialist slogans.
The Leopold statue in Ghent was vandalized several times in the past and again after Floyd, a handcuffed Black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. Several other monuments of the former king scattered across Belgium were defaced over the past few weeks and a statue of the monarch in the port of Antwerp was removed from a marketplace by local authorities.
Meanwhile, regional authorities also promised history course reforms to better explain the true character of colonialism while the federal Parliament decided that a commission would look into Belgium’s colonial past.
Belgium Prime minister Sophie Wilmes has called for “an in-depth” debate conducted “without taboo.”
“In 2020, we must be able to look at this shared past with lucidity and discernment,” she said Tuesday. “Any work of truth and memory begins with the recognition of suffering. Acknowledging the suffering of the other.”
After Leopold’s claimed ownership of Congo ended in 1908, he handed it over to the Belgian state, which continued to rule over the colony 75 times Belgium’s size until the African nation became independent in 1960.
In his letter Philippe stressed the “common achievements” reached by Belgium and its former colony, but also the painful episodes of their unequal relationship.
“At the time of the independent State of the Congo, acts of violence and cruelty were committed that still weigh on our collective memory,” Philippe wrote, referring to the period when the country was privately ruled by Leopold II from 1885 to 1908.
“The colonial period that followed also caused suffering and humiliation,” Philippe acknowledged. “I want to express my most deepest regrets for these wounds of the past, the pain of which is today revived by discrimination that is all too present in our societies,”
Philippe also congratulated Tshisekedi on the anniversary of Congo’s independence, ruing that he was not able to attend the celebrations to which he had been invited due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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