Kinshasa, May 27th, 2025 (CPA).- On Tuesday, the laws of the Kingdom of Belgium were deemed insufficient to allow for the complete restitution of cultural objects from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Kinshasa, according to an anthropologist, speaking as part of African Liberation Day organized by the Andrée Blouin cultural center. ‘Belgian laws on the restitution of cultural objects are currently insufficient to allow the full restitution of Congolese cultural objects,’ said Lies Busselen, a doctoral student in anthropology.
According to her, the Belgian law on the restitution of cultural objects is divided into three categories, which stipulate that for an object to be returned there must be proof of purchase or proof that the object was stolen. ‘If there is no proof, the object will remain in Belgium. All these contours will not allow for the effective repatriation of Congolese cultural objects’, she said, adding that “proof of purchase of cultural objects held by certain museums is of dubious origin”.
According to her, more than 400 remains and human remains of Congolese taken during the colonial era are still lying around in the Belgian museum in Tervuren and in other European museums. From 1897 to 1960, the Belgian government of the time was motivated by the need to fund certain actors to dig up bodies and remains for the purpose of either collecting them or conducting various scientific studies, notably at the Tervuren museum in Belgium. ‘It’s not just Belgium that has collected human remains in Africa, but other European countries too, for the same reasons’, said Lies Busselen.
To this end, the Belgian anthropologist called for the Congolese people to be made aware of this information, which has long been ignored by many, so that they in turn can raise awareness among Congolese leaders in particular, to ensure that these remains are repatriated in an honorable manner. According to Josué Tshibangu, one of the participants in this discussion, Brussels does not want to return Congolese cultural objects, and the Belgian authorities refuse to open a Pandora’s box that will lead to diplomatic and financial reparations that will not protect their interests. ‘Restitution and reparation will only happen if we Congolese realize that we have to fight,’ he said, adding that today it is just a symbolic policy for Westerners to talk about reparation and restitution, yet in Europe the leaders never talk about the word reparation.
The Royal Museum for Central Africa, known as the Africa Museum since 2018, is a Belgian federal scientific establishment located in Flemish Brabant in the Tervueren Park on the outskirts of Brussels. It houses a number of Congolese cultural arte facts on public display, retracing the colonial past.