Brazilian researcher: Violence of Belgian colonialism in Congo is visibly apparent

The violence of Belgian colonialism in Congo is visibly apparent, Louis Philippe Patrick De Jongh Filho, a doctoral researcher at the University of Brazil, said during the international conference under the theme Belgian colonialism: recognition and responsibility, in Baku on October 31, Report informs.

He noted that the consequences of Belgian colonialism continue to affect Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda: "I liken Belgian colonialism in Congo to a pipeline-a system that extends from physical violence to ideological and memory-based levels, and continues to shape our present. Today, the violent and brutal aspects of Belgian colonialism in Congo are clearly visible. This violence was not accidental; it was a deliberate mechanism of governance. Violence served as a form of political language, a tool for economic exploitation, and a means of enforcing racial hierarchy."

The researcher added that Belgium's colonial administration in Congo introduced decade-long programs under the guise of "economic and social development": "These plans claimed to modernize Congo, but in reality, they further entrenched Belgian authority and excluded local populations from decision-making. Education and religion became powerful instruments of control. Missionary schools were not designed to empower people, but to teach obedience. Children were indoctrinated with submission, hard labor, and sacrifice. The church framed colonization as a 'divine mission,' portraying Africans as an ‘inferior race.' Even today, children in Belgium read comics that depict Africans as savages. Such 'cultural' products turn oppression into humor and normalize hierarchy."