BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 21. Belgium must
apologize to the countries of Central Africa at the state level,
said, Abbas Abbasov, executive director of the Baku Initiative
Group, Trend’s
correspondent reports from the event.


Abbasov made the statement to reporters at an international
conference on “Belgium’s colonial injustice and 101-year path to
reparations.”


According to the Abbasov, Central African countries have been
waiting for many years for Belgium to take concrete steps regarding
reparations.


“I think certain steps must be taken here at a specific legal
level, within the framework of international law. The most
important step should be for Belgium to apologize to the countries
of Central Africa — the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda,
and Burundi — at the state level,” Abbasov said.


He said that the next step should be to determine the amount of
financial compensation, and that these funds should be paid to the
Central African nations in installments.


Furthermore, Abbas Abbasov noted that one of the key issues is
that Belgium must not interfere in the internal political processes
of these countries. At the same time, it is necessary to reach an
appropriate legal agreement to prevent the recurrence of colonial
crimes.


Touching on the topic of efforts to place the issue of
reparations on the agenda of international organizations, Abbasov
noted that the Baku Initiative Group has already held two
international conferences on this topic and is conducting extensive
research.


"Naturally, this issue has been brought to the attention of both
the UN and other international organizations. Unfortunately,
however, Belgium has skillfully prevented this issue from being
brought to the attention of the general public. The Baku Initiative
Group will present alternative reports to bring this issue onto the
agenda of international organizations and will continue to organize
such international events on various international platforms,” he
emphasized.


A. Abbasov also noted the importance of joint efforts by
government agencies and civil society institutions in the
reparations process.


According to him, this issue should be raised not only by
government representatives at international forums but also by
civil society institutions, which must actively work toward this
goal at the UN and other international platforms.