After two and a half years of work, trips to the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, the hearing of nearly 300 people, the Belgian parliamentary commission responsible for examining Belgium’s colonial past must submit its report by the end of December. The final text is currently being discussed between the deputies of the different political parties. One point crystallizes the tensions: the question of apologies.
That the House of Representatives apologize to the Congolese, Burundian or Rwandan people for ” colonial domination and exploitation This is one of the 130 recommendations formulated by the chairman of this commission, the ecologist Wouter de Vriendt: There are serious consequences of this colonial past. For me, an apology is a symbolically very important act of reparation. “.
Wouter de Vriendt, chairman of the parliamentary committee on the colonial past
An essential point for the Socialist Party on which it does not intend to compromise. “ These peoples were oppressed by a colonial, violent, racist, xenophobic regime which organized a form of apartheid, explains the Belgian socialist deputy Christophe Lacroix. So the word “apology” is really a word that you have to be able to pronounce, look at your past, accept it. And above all, after the word “apology”, we build a relationship “.
No Excuses for the Reform Movement
A word which, conversely, two liberal parties do not want to hear. This is the case of the Reform Movement (MR) of which Benoît Piedboeuf is the president in the chamber. “ The Belgian population today is not responsible for what happened before 1908 and after 1908says Benoît Piedboeuf. We condemn the colonial regime, but we do not want to go beyond the commitments of the king and the government, because there are no current direct responsibilities “. The Reform Movement prefers to stick to the deep regretexpressed in June by King Philippe during his visit to the DRC.
Apologies, will they then be presented by the House of Representatives? the issue is to be decided by the chamber by the end of the month.
►Also read: In Belgium, experts issue a damning report on the country’s colonial past
The report of the experts of the Congo-colonial memory commission has just been published. ????????
Many thanks to the 10 experts for this important common thread to approach the Belgian colonial past. ?
Here is the doc: https://t.co/d88S65qWLj
— Wouter De Vriendt (@WouterDeVriendt) October 27, 2021