Atrocities in the Congo Free State
From 1885 to 1908, many atrocities were committed in the Congo Free State (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo) under the absolute rule of King Leopold II of Belgium. These atrocities were particularly associated with the labour policies, enforced by colonial administrators, used to collect natural rubber for export. Combined with epidemic disease, famine, mass population displacement, and falling birth rates caused by these disruptions, the atrocities contributed to a sharp decline in the Congolese population. These atrocities have sometimes been described as a genocide, though this characterization is disputed. Modern estimates of the magnitude of the population decline ranges from 1.2 million to 10 million people. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the European powers recognized the claims of a supposedly philanthropic organisation run by Leopold II, to most of the Congo Basin region. Leopold had long-held ambitions for colonial expansion. The territory under Leopold's control...
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