Burundi is demanding 43 billion euros from Belgium and Germany as redress for the wrongs suffered during colonialism
Forced labor, exploitation and segregation are now considered crimes against humanity but if compensation and recognition of past atrocities are a necessary step, an end to the abuses of power that continue to be committed must be guaranteed. Unlucky to DRCongo, Namibia and other former African colonies, the crimes against humanity started after the independence. The present racial regime CNDD is under CPI inquiring for crimes against humanity committed starting from 2015, the beginning of the political crisis in Burundi.
Burundi has confirmed, through the voice of the President of the Senate, Reverien Ndikuriyo, his request for forgiveness and financial compensation — in the order of 43 billion dollars (about 36 billion euros) — for the wrongs caused by the German and Belgian settlers in the period from 1896 to 1962. The new president, Évariste Ndashyimiye also wants Berlin and Brussels to return archives and objects stolen in the same period.
“We have decided to follow the example of neighboring Congo which asked Belgium for an official apology and financial reparation for the terrible colonial period. The time has come for these European nations, which have exploited Africa and continue to do so, face up to their responsibilities and make amends for the horrors they have committed, “said Senate President Reverien Ndikuriyo.
King Philip had expressed at the end of June, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), his “deepest regrets” for “these wounds of the past, whose pain is rekindled today by further discrimination. too present in our societies “.
In 1880 there was a vast territory in the heart of Africa not yet colonized but very rich in natural resources. During the Berlin Conference, the Belgian king Leopold I had managed to obtain permission from the other European powers to begin colonization in this virgin territory inhabited by “savages to be saved”. The colonization of Congo began on 1 August 1885 when King Leopoldo proclaimed sovereignty over the entire virgin territory called Congo. He will found his capital on the Congo River naming it Leopoldeville (now Kinshasa). A territory as vast as Western Europe, populated by at least 50 different ethnic groups and overflowing with natural resources: from wood to gold and diamonds, it will become the private property of the Leopoldo family until 1908, the colony will be passed to the Belgian government.
Congo was the golden manna. The collection of chauchu and the extraction of copper transformed the small European country in a continental power. Unfortunately, the intense exploitation of these two natural resources led the Belgians to enslave the various Congolese tribes. In Congo at the end of the nineteenth century one of the most atrocious chapters in the history of colonialism in Africa took place. Between 1885 and 1898, millions of Congolese (including children) were reduced to slaves in plantations and mines. Those who did not support the strong productive rhythms were mutilated. Over 300,000 Congolese women were forced to become the concubines of colonial officials and army officers or simply raped by soldiers. Slavery, disease and military campaigns will reduce the population from 15 million to 5 million in just 13 years.
In 1891 the German East African Company establishes the “Deutsch-Ostafrika” (German colony of East Africa) incorporating the territories of the continental part of Tanzania (at the time called Tanganyika), Burundi and Rwanda. While in Tanzania the German empire establishes a real colony, in Burundi and Rwanda it is preferred to create protectorates as the bellicosity of the indigenous ethnic groups had made it clear to the German military that a colony on their territories would have generated an endless costly guerrilla war for the Motherland. Indirect control was the best option. Gitega served as the administrative center for the Urundi region (Burundi Rwanda). Germany had troops in the two countries but the respective kingdoms continued to exist in a kind of distrustful forced cohabitation.
In 1903 Germany officially recognized the sovereignty of the king of Burundi: Mwezi IV Gisabo Bikata-Bijoga. The indirect colonization of Burundi lasted until 1916 when, during the First World War, German troops were expelled from the territories of East Africa. After the defeat in the First World War, Germany officially loses control over all its colonies and protectorates in Africa. They will be divided between the Western powers that won the conflict during the Peace of Versailles. Burundi and Rwanda are assimilated to the Belgian Congo while Tanganyika will be part of the British Empire which already controlled the island of Zanzibar.
A partition of the African colonies that did not take into account the official request by Italy to inherit the German colonies as spoils of war. The assignment of possessions to Belgium, France and Great Britain, was one of the most emphasized topics during the 1920s by the nascent Fascism and taken as a demonstration of the ingratitude of European capitalism towards Italy which had paid a great tribute of blood to stop the Austro-Hungarian “hordes”.
The Belgian “dominion” over Rwanda and Burundi began in 1918. Always in consideration of the bellicosity of the local ethnic groups: Hutu and Tutsi and to avoid the risk of a very long guerrilla damage to the coffers of Leopold family, a form of dual administration control was opted for. The kings of Burundi and Rwanda and their kingdoms coexisted with the Belgian colonial administration. The same situation occurred in Uganda where the Buganda Kingdom coexisted with the English colonial administration while the rest of the country was considered a possession of the Crown.
In October 1934, Urundi became the territory of the Belgian League of Nations, with Usumbura as its capital. The double administration continues but the kings following Gisabo and their powers will become more symbolic than real. During the German colonialism no particular atrocities are found and neither during the Belgian colonialism, more structured and more lasting.
During the 1940s, a series of policies caused divisions across the country, forcing Belgium in October 1943 to grant various legislative powers to a local government made up of clan leaders. After World War II, Burundi was classified as a United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian administrative authority. In 1948 the first Burundian parties arise and on July 1, 1962 Burundi gets addiction without shedding a drop of blood.
President Ndashyimiye accuses Germans and Belgians of creating hatred among the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa ethnic groups. These ethnic groups already existed but were part of a complex game of power based on the balance of ethnic, clan and hill belonging where none of the ethnic groups managed to obtain supremacy. The Germans limited themselves to recognizing the existence of these ethnic groups, while the Belgians opted for social manipulation favoring the Tutsis during colonialism and the Hutus during the last years of domination and the first years of independence.
During colonialism the Tutsis were promoted because they were considered more intelligent and closer to Europeans. A Western analysis dictated by the complete ignorance of the vast Hutu and Tutsi culture which, to fill the anthropological and social gaps, identifies a group as the most “resembling” to Westerners, therefore reliable. Between the 1940s and 1950s, Belgium realized that the Tutsi Burundian intellectual class was conquered by the nationalistic and socialist ideas of Pan-Africanism. This is why they begin to support the Hutus, creating racial hatred by rewriting history. The aim was to have the Hutu masses led by easily controllable leaders seize power in the twin countries. In Rwanda they succeeded in Burundi not.
As you can see, Western colonialism in Burundi was “soft”, as there were no violent wars of conquest and extermination of the population as in Congo by the Belgians, in Namibia by the Germans or in Kenya and South Africa by the British.
Claiming indemnities for a colonial past may seem excessive but justified by the just claim to have justice for the wrongs suffered, no matter if centuries ago. Unfortunately, the reasons are less noble. The request from Germany and Belgium for 43 billion dollars in compensation is a revenge of the meeting that took place last July 28 between President Evariste Ndashyimiye and the French, Belgian and German representatives of the European Union. The meeting, very discreet, focused on the conditions necessary to repeal the EU economic sanctions that are strangling the country.
EU representatives have put in place a series of reforms and reconciliations in order to stabilize the country. Voluntary return of refugees. Free expression of the media, return of political opponents and members of the Civil Society. Disarmament of the Imbonerakure militias, end of the military political alliance with the Rwandan terrorists FDLR, peace with Rwanda. After a period of verification of the requested reforms (towards the first half of 2021) the EU would have examined the possibility of repealing the sanctions. On the contrary, the Burundian President demanded an immediate repeal of the sanctions on the promise that the requested reforms would be carried out at a later date.
The meeting ended with a stalemate. Inexplicably after the meeting, the president (elected through electoral fraud) implements an illogical and unpredictable policy. It interrupts diplomatic contacts for peace with Rwanda, increases the power of the Imbonerakure militias which now also control the police and are authorized to “punish” the insufficiently patriotic policemen. FDLR terrorists are offered important and strategic positions in the armed forces. Civilians in the public administration are replaced with military personnel. Ethnic, social and political violence is exploding again due to the now out of control Imbonerakure.
The brief hope of reform after the death of dictator Pierre Nkurunziza appears to have lasted less than a month. The regime and the government are in the hands of the toughest and most extremist wing of the Generals. The actions done in the past three weeks are associated ate by two campaigns of pure racial hatred: the first against Westerners, now called “settlers”. The second against the Tutsi minority of the country. Some regional observers fear that the Evariste regime is worse than that of Nkurunziza and that Burundi is experiencing the agony of the regime that does not bode well on the horizon.
“Forced labor, exploitation and segregation are now considered crimes against humanity but if compensation and recognition of past atrocities are a necessary step, an end to the abuses of power that continue to be committed must be guaranteed”, NGO Human Rights Watch says
