BB-028 / State Terror
Congo Free State Atrocities
The Act
Under the personal rule of King Leopold II of Belgium, the Congo Free State extracted rubber and ivory through extreme forced labor. Failure to meet quotas was punished by amputation of hands, execution, and the destruction of villages. Estimates of deaths range from several million to as high as 10 million.
The Response
International outcry, led by missionaries and journalists such as E.D. Morel, forced Belgium to annex the territory in 1908, ending Leopold’s personal rule. The atrocities remain a foundational case in the history of colonial violence and humanitarian campaigns.