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.


https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/42/59/Add.1