https://en.sputniknews.africa/20241203/belgian-court-finds-state-guilty-of-crimes-against-humanity-for-kidnappings-in-congo-reports-say-1069524407.html
Belgian Court Finds State Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity for Kidnappings in Congo, Reports Say
Belgian Court Finds State Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity for Kidnappings in Congo, Reports Say
Sputnik Africa
It is the first time in Belgium and probably in Europe that a court has condemned the Belgian colonial state for crimes against humanity, a lawyer for the... 03.12.2024, Sputnik Africa
2024-12-03T13:28+0100
2024-12-03T13:28+0100
2024-12-03T13:28+0100
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Belgium's court of appeal found the state guilty of crimes against humanity for colonial-era kidnappings in Congo, a UK media reported.Five women, now in their 70s, kidnapped as children from their Congolese mothers during the colonial period, successfully appealed a previous court decision, arguing that their forced removal and placement in Catholic institutions due to their mixed-race heritage constituted an inhuman act and persecution constituting a crime against humanity, the report said. The court of appeal reportedly upheld their claim and ordered the state to pay €50,000 ($53,000) in damages to each of the five women and over one million euros (a little over one million dollars) in legal costs. At the Catholic mission where the kidnapped children were placed, they faced neglect, abuse, and were labeled "children of sin." Following Congolese independence, they were abandoned and some experienced further trauma, including rape, and faced difficulties in obtaining the citizenship, according to the media report.However, the court, while finding Belgium guilty of crimes against humanity for the initial removal, did not extend that culpability to the women's later struggles with obtaining citizenship and documents, the UK media added.In 2021, when women first submitted the case, the lower court did not find the forced separation during the colonial period a crime, according to the report.
https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240410/400-years-of-crime-what-is-tribunal-for-atrocities-of-transatlantic-slave-trade--why-it-matters-1066001004.html
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belgium, democratic republic of the congo (drc), central africa, europe, court, crime, colonialism, human rights, crimes against humanity, kidnapping, accusations
belgium, democratic republic of the congo (drc), central africa, europe, court, crime, colonialism, human rights, crimes against humanity, kidnapping, accusations
Belgian Court Finds State Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity for Kidnappings in Congo, Reports Say
Alla Shukanova
Writer / Editor
It is the first time in Belgium and probably in Europe that a court has condemned the Belgian colonial state for crimes against humanity, a lawyer for the women kidnapped from their mothers as children Michele Hirsch told Belgian media.
Belgium's court of appeal found the state guilty of crimes against humanity for colonial-era kidnappings in Congo, a UK media reported.
Five women, now in their 70s, kidnapped as children from their Congolese mothers during the colonial period, successfully appealed a previous court decision, arguing that their forced removal and placement in Catholic institutions due to their mixed-race heritage constituted an inhuman act and persecution constituting
a crime against humanity, the report said.
The court of appeal reportedly upheld their claim and ordered the state to pay €50,000 ($53,000) in damages to each of the five women and over one million euros (a little over one million dollars) in legal costs.
At the Catholic mission where the kidnapped children were placed, they faced neglect, abuse, and were labeled "children of sin." Following Congolese independence, they were abandoned and some experienced further trauma, including rape, and faced difficulties in obtaining the citizenship, according to the media report.
However, the court, while finding Belgium guilty of crimes against humanity for the initial removal, did not extend that culpability to the women's later struggles with obtaining citizenship and documents, the UK media added.
In 2021, when women first submitted the case, the lower court
did not find the forced separation during the colonial period a crime, according to the report.
