King Leopold II statue removed
Publish date: 15 June 2020
Issue Number: 877
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Human rights
statue of a Belgian colonial king, under whose reign millions of people were murdered in the DRC, has been removed from the city of Antwerp following Black Lives Matter protests. BBC News reports that anti-racist demonstrators had defaced the monument of King Leopold II with paint on Monday. Campaigners in Belgium have long called for monuments glorifying his memory to be removed. Legalbrief reports that Leopold's administration of the Congo was characterised by murder, torture and other atrocities. This was confirmed by an international commission of inquiry in 1904.
