Daniel Itai – The Zimbabwe Daily
Brussels, Belgium – The Belgian government has been advised to apologise for the brutal killings of Congolese people by Princess Marie-Esmeralda, the youngest child of King Leopold III.
From 1885 to 1908 more than 10 million Congolese people died through murder, starvation, torture and disease under the rule of Belgian King Leopold II.
“I think it is very important that we raise the issue of apologies on behalf of Belgium to the Congolese people for the atrocities committed by our country during colonization,” said the Princess.
Belgian activists have since targeted statues of King Leopold II in Ghent, Antwerp, and Brussels, amongst other places. They are calling for the country to acknowledge its racist past and end the idealizing narrative around the King’s realm.
Other initiatives include a popular online petition demanding all his statues to be taken down by the end of June in honour of the Congolese prople’s 60th anniversary of independence.
