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Ulviyya Poladova

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An international conference titled "Belgium's colonial injustice and the 101-year path to reparations" will be held in Baku on August 21, organized by the Baku Initiative Group.

According to BIG, the event will bring together officials from former Belgian colonies, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Burundi, where Belgium is alleged to have maintained neo-colonial influence, as well as representatives from Morocco, South Africa, and the United Nations.

Among the guests will be the Ombudsman of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, members of the Congolese Parliament, Rwanda’s ambassador and diplomats in Türkiye, and UN experts.

The conference will also bring together experts, researchers and human rights advocates specializing in international law, historical justice and reparations.

Participants will discuss efforts to advance the issue of Belgium issuing an official apology and providing reparations for crimes committed against the peoples of the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi during the colonial period on the agenda of the United Nations, including the UN Human Rights Council.

The conference will also focus on ensuring full and unrestricted access to Belgium’s colonial archives, involving experts from former colonial territories alongside international specialists, and returning human remains and other historical materials to their countries of origin.

UN General Assembly Resolution 60/147 establishes principles concerning victims’ rights to legal remedies and reparations. It identifies restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, including moral recognition and official apologies and guarantees of non-repetition as forms of reparation.

It was noted that Belgium has yet to fulfill these obligations. The group says Belgium has not issued an official state apology for crimes committed in the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi during the colonial period, with officials instead expressing "deep regret," which does not create a legal obligation.

Although 84,000 cultural heritage artifacts have reportedly been inventoried, the repatriation process has allegedly been delayed by Belgium for decades. The inventory data remains inaccessible to the public, while bilateral restitution agreements have yet to be signed. Specialists from the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi also reportedly do not yet have full access to Belgium’s colonial-era archives and documents.

Experts cited by the organizers describe the situation as a failure by Belgium to conduct a transparent examination of its historical responsibility.