Belgian-Congolese women sue Belgium state for crim against humanity during colonial rule
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00:00Let's cross live then to Brussels. We're going to talk to our correspondent Dave Keating who
00:04made that report and now on the programme. Dave,
00:06tell us then a little bit more about what this case is all about.
00:13Well, the reason that this case is being so closely watched is that this was a common practice
00:19among European colonial powers in Africa and Asia, that they would take mixed-race children who had
00:27been born to a local mother from a European father and put them in these orphanages as if they had no
00:34parents at all. The reasons why they did this were kind of myriad and kind of murky in hindsight,
00:41but essentially they just couldn't see them as being part of either society and so then they
00:48pretended as if they had no parents. And the reason this is being watched is because this
00:52is actually the first case of its kind that could find that practice as having been a crime against
00:59humanity. It would have implications for other former European colonial powers. Now, these women
01:06are each asking for €50,000 each, as was mentioned in the report. It's not a huge amount of money.
01:12The most important thing to them is really recognition and restitution for the trauma
01:19that they endured. And also, they just want to be able to access information about where they come
01:24from, which has been very, very hard to get from the Belgian state. Now, back in 2018,
01:30former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who went on to be president of the European Council,
01:36issued a formal apology for the abductions that took place during this time period.
01:42However, that's not enough for these women. They want this to be recognized in a court of law
01:47that this was wrong. However, their case was rejected in 2021 by a Belgian court, which said
01:54that because this followed the law of the land, Belgian law, at the time, it couldn't be considered
02:01a violation of human rights or a crime against humanity. Now, they've appealed that decision.
02:06That's the case that's happening today. This was originally supposed to happen in June.
02:10It's been delayed until today. Very, very important case for Europe's relationship
02:17with its former colonies and also Europe's reckoning with its colonial past.
02:22Tell us a little bit more then, Dave, about the historical reaction
02:25to this and why the state is fighting it so strongly.
02:31Yeah, you might wonder if the former prime minister issued an apology,
02:35thereby recognizing that this was wrong, what happened? Why is the Belgian state
02:40resisting this? Well, of course, as usual, the issue is that this would have implications
02:45far beyond this particular case because, as you mentioned, these are just five of thousands of
02:52people who this happened to. If the Belgian state had to pay all of those people, it's a lot of
02:56money. Of course, there are other countries that are looking at this nervously. So often,
03:01what this stuff comes down to is the country can recognize that something was wrong,
03:06but then there's big financial implications if they formally recognize that or if that's
03:11recognized by a court in a way that would mean reparations need to be given.
03:18This is definitely a delicate topic here in Belgium. Belgium has come a long way in terms
03:22of reckoning with its colonial past over the past couple years. For a long time,
03:26this stuff was not taught in school. This stuff was not widely known among the Belgian public.
03:32Coinciding with the George Floyd protests in the United States, there was a new look at
03:39Belgium's activities in the Congo. There's a different attitude about that now. It's still
03:46a journey. Belgium hasn't really completely come to terms with what happened during those years.
03:52But this case, I think, is another sign that things are changing.
03:56Dave, thanks very much. Dave Keating, a correspondent talking to us there from Brussels.