Women torn from mothers by colonial Belgium seek justice

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00During two days here in a Brussels courtroom, these five mixed-race women sat side-by-side

00:06facing the court, reliving the terrible first years of their lives in Congo, while the country

00:12was still a Belgian colony.

00:15They were taken from their Congolese mothers and placed in religious institutions, as was

00:20the rule at the time.

00:21During all these years, we lived in shame, knowing that we were the children of sin,

00:28abandoned children, those without identity.

00:33Also present at the hearings were their relatives, who also won answers from the Belgian state.

00:38They need compensation.

00:40They have suffered severe harm and it has remained etched in their memory.

00:45Their souls are wounded and so far, nothing has been done.

00:49And now we expect justice to do its job.

00:52For their part, the lawyers of the Belgian state argued that even if the facts could

00:57be considered crimes against humanity today, that was not the case at the time.

01:03That's an argument that's disputed by the lawyers of the five plaintiffs.

01:12This is undoubtedly a crime against humanity.

01:15The defense of the Belgian state is a defense of denial.

01:18The Belgian state does not recognize the reality of the horrible system, the horrible machinery

01:23that was put in place during colonization to literally eliminate mixed-race children.

01:33A decision is expected on December 2nd.

01:36If the Belgian state is convicted, it would be historic and it could set a precedent not

01:41only in this country, but in other former colonial powers.

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