Campaigners say Belgium has
taken a step towards acknowledging its dark colonial history by renaming a city
square after the assassinated Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.
Hundreds cheered as
"Bastion square" in Brussels' largely Congolese neighbourhood of
Matongé was officially renamed "Patrice Lumumba square" in a ceremony
at the weekend. Some of Patrice Lumumba's relatives were there.
Belgium, the former colonial
power, has apologised for playing a role in his death.
Several speakers at the event
criticised the fact that elsewhere in the city statues to Belgium's King
Leopold II are still visible, despite the brutality of his rule over Congo in
the late 19th and early 20th Century.
A Belgian campaign group
tweeted these photos showing the new plaques, saying that it was important to
insert African historical figures into public spaces because it made their
legacy "visible and timeless" for future generations.
Mr Lumumba was deposed with
the backing of Western governments - including its former colonial master
Belgium - just months after coming to power in 1960.
He was then handed over to his
enemies, and murdered in detention in January 1961.
The US and Britain have also
been accused of being complicit in the murder of the former Congolese prime
minister who had close ties with the Soviet Union.
“By inaugurating this square,
we’re not repairing the past, we’re not closing a chapter of history,” said
Philippe Close, the mayor of Brussels. “Today, by
inaugurating this square, we forget nothing."
Patrice Lumumba was an African
nationalist and DR Congo's first prime minister
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