Belgium today: A voice against tyrannical occupancy of the Congo

December 5th, 1886

As a Belgian citizen I find it to be my duty to speak out against our honorable king Leopold in an effort to spread the word of the atrocities that are occurring today in Belgium’s stake of the African continent. For those Belgian citizens unaware of our ownership of the Congo I will give you a back-story. During the Berlin conference all of Africa was carved up by the leading powers of our times.

The Congo was particularly disputed over. After some argument it was divvied up amongst the French, the Portuguese and most notably us. (1) Now in control of an African country, which few Belgians had ever seen, let alone heard of, our magnificent king set about finding ways he could utilize his new gained territory.

Having an area more then 10 times larger than our own beloved country, most of the Congo we soon realized was jungle. Once control over the Congo had been obtained, King Leopold realized it was going to be a large expense despite the vast riches the area contains. So in order to make the Congo profitable and in essence worth owning, our king has begun to put into place a brutal regime in order to make the most profit possible from this territory.

Whilst personally, and I believe most citizens would agree, we have no problem utilizing the resources we have conquered and earned fairly in order to better the Belgian state, however many of the tactics used in the name sake of profitability have been beyond cruel even towards what is considered to be a lesser race than our own.

For example, in order to enforce quotas they use an army of sorts called the force publique, a vigilante group used to threaten and terrorize the Africans. These “officers” rape women, take children as hostages, flog and whip the native savages, and have even gone to the lengths of chopping off hands as symbols of the efficiency of not wasting bullets for the Belgian king.(2)

While many believe that the peoples of Africa are not as superior in mental faculties as the Europeans, I believe the treatment being enacted on these populations is not a treatment fair enough for an animal, let alone a human being.

Our king’s use of forced labor in order to extract greater profits for rubber exportation is barbaric. We are far more civilized a population then to use these methods to be successful. Many of these natives are dieing at the hands of our officers. We do not want to be known and recognized as a murderous and brutal people by our peers in Europe.

We must find other methods for increased profit without using violent and brutal tactics. I call all Belgian citizens to speak out against these injustices and take upon our shoulders as good Christians, and good Belgian citizens to not allow our king reflect such a negative image of our nation to the world, through these travesties.

Along with these horrible acts being committed against the African peoples are the crimes being perpetrated against the environment of the region.(3) Forests are being leveled in favor of clearing space for the increasing number of rubber plantations in the area. Although this profit goes to the citizens of Belgium, I say that the means being used by our officers are inhumane.

When Henry Morton Stanley was hired to begin exploration of the Congo none of us at home considered that this would lead to the death toll and the cruelty being procured in today’s Belgian Congo.(4) We must stop this senseless violence in favor of a more humane approach at profits. For if we do not, we will loose far more important things then profit, we will loose our positive national identity as morally upstanding Belgium citizens.

Footnotes

Text

1.“The Democratic Republic of Congo, Early History” (2005). Available from: factmonster.com <http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0857522.html> (accessed 4 December 2005).

2.Robert B. Edgerton, The Troubled Heart of Africa (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002), p.164.

3.Africa (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2002), s.v. “Congo (Kinshasa).”

4. “The Butcher Of Congo” (2005). Available from: Hartford-hwp.com <http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/35/181.html> (accessed 4 December 2005).

Images

1. King Leopold with money, "King Leopold II" http://www.historywiz.com/leopold.htm <accessed 6 December 2005>

2. Belgian Congo Map, "Democratic Republic of the Congo" http://www.worldrover.com/country/congo_democratic_republic_of_the_main.html <accessed 6 December 2005>

3. Handless Congo Peoples, "Robbing the Congo II: Unspeakable richness" http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/humanity/comments/hr705tangenes_congo2/ <accessed 6 December 2005>