Belgian Congo;
In the period from 1885 to 1908, a number of well-documented atrocities were perpetrated in the Congo Free State (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo) which, at the time, was a colony under the personal rule of King Leopold II of Belgium. These atrocities were sometimes collectively referred to by European contemporaries as the "Congo Horrors", and were particularly associated with the labour policies used to collect natural rubber for export. Together with epidemic disease, famine, and a falling birth rate caused by these disruptions, the atrocities contributed to a sharp decline in the Congolese population. The magnitude of the population fall over the period is disputed, but it is thought to be between one and 15 million people.
King Leopold II of Belgium
One of the enduring images of the Free State was the severed hands which became "the most potent symbol of colonial brutality".The practice was comparatively common in colonial Africa and originated in connection with the rubber industry. Suspected of indiscipline, Force Publique soldiers were expected to provide proof that they had not stolen ammunition or used their military equipment for hunting purposes. The practice of hacking the hands off corpses in the aftermath of punitive expeditions became common as evidence that government supplies had not been misused. When soldiers did misuse their equipment, they cut hands from living people to cover their activities.Photographs of victims, taken by missionaries, were among the most potent propaganda for opponents of Leopold's regime in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Other practices used to force workers to collect rubber were taking women and family members hostage.
Even little girls were not spared from the abomination and horror!
Eventually, growing scrutiny of Leopold's regime led to a popular campaign movement, centered in the United Kingdom and the United States, to force Leopold to renounce his ownership of the Congo. In many cases, the campaigns based their information on reports from British and Swedish missionaries working in the Congo.
The first international protest occurred in 1890 when George Washington Williams, an American, published an open letter to Leopold about abuses he had witnessed.Public interest in the abuses in the Congo Free State grew sharply from 1895, when the Stokes Affair and reports of mutilations reached the European and American public which began to discuss the "Congo Question".To appease public opinion, Leopold instigated a Commission for the Protection of Natives (Commission pour la Protection des Indigènes), composed of foreign missionaries, but made few serious efforts at substantive reform.
In Britain, the campaign was led by the activist and pamphleteer E. D. Morel after 1900, whose book Red Rubber (1906) reached a mass audience. Notable members of the campaign included the novelists Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and Arthur Conan Doyle as well as Belgian socialists such as Emile Vandervelde.Campaigning groups, especially the Congo Reform Association, did not oppose colonialism and instead sought to end the excesses of the Free State by encouraging Belgium to annex the colony officially. This would avoid damaging the delicate balance of power between France and Britain on the continent. While supporters of the Free State regime attempted to argue against claims of atrocities, a Commission of Enquiry, appointed by the regime in 1904, confirmed the stories of atrocities and pressure on the Belgian government increased.
As a Belgian myself, I am truly ashamed of this dark page in our history!
We must never forget what happened, so it can never happen again!!
:'-(
(source ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State)