Belgium has been convicted of crimes against humanity committed in the DRC. The Belgian state has been found guilty of crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo after separating five children from their parents during the colonial period, between 1948 and 1953. 

The Belgian Court of Appeal issued a ruling on Monday, December 2, 2024, saying that what was done to the five children was an “inhuman act” committed by Belgium during the colonial period. 

The children, who were born in the former Congo-Belgium and are between 70 and 80 years old, told the court that they were separated from their Congolese mothers when they were young. 

This happened when the Belgian government immediately placed them in monasteries in the province of Kasai, after seeing them as children of prostitutes, during the colonial period, who were accused of being descended from white and Black parents.

Black people. Monique Bitu Bingi, one of those who was separated from her mother at the age of three, said that she felt relieved after this story of justice and said that being able to get justice was a source of pride for her and others. 

He said, “It is the first time in Belgium, and possibly the first time in Europe, that the court is testifying against the Belgian state during the colonial period for crimes against humanity.” The other five include Léa Tavares Mujinga, Simone Ngalula, and Marie-José Loshi, as well as Bitu-Bingi and Verbeken, all of whom are children of Congolese families who were separated from their mothers during the colonial period. 

This practice of the Belgian government was seen as an attack on the African community and the colonial plan in the Congo. The Court of Appeal said that what these children were subjected to was “criminal harassment,” which was organized in a discriminatory manner. 

This justice was praised by the prosecution, who said that what they did showed that the Belgian colonialism was involved in the struggle against human rights and showed an act of brutality against African civilians. 

In 2021, the five ladies had appealed after the First Court had already denied them the crimes of serving a human mother. Now, after the decision of the Court of Appeal, they are going to get the justice they were looking for. Noëlle Verbeken said that the Belgian government’s decision proves their worth, adding that “We are recognized.”