the king of The Belgians Philippe has presented this Tuesday, June 30, for the first time in the history of the country its "deepest regret for the injuries' inflicted in the colonial period of belgian Congo (the present DRC), on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the independence. In a letter addressed to the president of the democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, king Philip wrote : "I would like to express my deepest regret for the injuries of the past whose pain is today revived by the discrimination still present in our societies. "
"At the time of the independent State of the Congo (editor's NOTE : when this african territory was the property of the ex-king Leopold II), acts of violence and cruelty have been committed, which still weigh on our collective memory," assured Philip, who reigns from 2013. "The colonial period that followed (that of the belgian Congo from 1908 to 1960) has also caused suffering and humiliation ", he added. King Philip has asserted its commitment to " combat all forms of racism ". "I encourage the thinking that is undertaken by our Parliament so that our memory will be permanently pacified ", he continued.
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In Belgium, the death of the Afro-American George Floyd, was asphyxiated at the end of may by a white policeman in Minneapolis, has rekindled the debate on the violence of the colonial period in the Congo and the role is very controversial of the deceased king Leopold II, who is accused by some activists in the anti-colonial have killed millions of Congolese.
