BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 15. Investigations by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG) into atrocities committed by colonial countries in occupied territories are continuing, and the facts prove that the most brutal and inhumane crimes were committed by Belgian kings, Trend reports via BIG.
Moreover, it is reported that Belgian colonialism has gone down in history as one of the darkest and most shameful examples, sharply contrasting with other colonial models, as it was the only personal monarchical property among European empires, as well as a repetition of unprecedented systematic cruelty and racial humiliation in the heart of Europe. One of these dark and shameful pages is “human zoos.”
In 1897, a group of 267 Congolese people, forcibly brought from the Congo on the personal initiative and orders of Leopold II, were presented as a “living exhibit” at the World's Fair held in the Tervuren district of Brussels. They were turned into objects of spectacle, like animals, in the cold European air, half-naked, behind wooden fences, their dignity trampled upon. As a result of this barbaric display, at least seven Congolese, including children, died in terrible agony from pneumonia, influenza, and other diseases, and their bodies were secretly buried. Thus, this human zoo, created by Leopold II under the guise of a “civilizing mission,” became a symbol of open racial humiliation and genocide in the heart of Europe.
Later, a permanent museum was established in the Tervuren district, where the “human zoo” was located. First, the “Congo Museum” and then the “Royal Museum of Central Africa” served as a propaganda center for colonial ideology. The same “human” exhibition was repeated in 1958 at the Expo '58 World's Fair in Brussels. This time, 598 people brought from the Congo – 183 families consisting of 273 men, 128 women, and 197 children – were again presented to the European public as “living exhibits.” Thus, the first experiment with a “human zoo” organized in Tervuren in 1897 was not a random or temporary event, but a systematic, institutionalized, and long-term component deeply rooted in the structure of Belgian colonial policy. This practice, as a visual embodiment of the ideology of racial hierarchy and the “civilizing mission,” continued until the mid-20th century.
According to available data, approximately 20,000 children, born to fathers of European descent and mothers of African descent in the territories of Burundi, Congo, and Rwanda—regions under Belgian colonial rule from 1959 to 1962—were forcibly separated from their families. These children were taken to Belgium, where they were placed for adoption without the consent of their parents. This forced separation resulted in significant disruptions to their family connections, sense of identity, and cultural heritage.
The cases cited clearly demonstrate that Belgium's colonial policy was based on systematic racist views, human rights violations, and attacks on human dignity.
Source: Report of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, published in 2019.