The Crime of the Congo is a journalistic book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about human rights abuses in the Free State of the Congo between 1885 and 1908 , which was the " personal possession " of King Leopold II of Belgium .
| Crimes in the Congo | |
|---|---|
| English The crime of the congo | |
 | |
| Author | Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Genre | journalism |
| Original language | English |
| Original published | 1909 |
| Publisher | Hutchinson & co |
| Carrier | book |
The book was conceived by the author as a revelation of the situation in the so-called Free State of the Congo , which the writer called the “rubber regime”.
In 1884-1885, at the Berlin Conference of European Powers, with the aim of dividing the territories of Central Africa, thanks to skillful intrigues, Leopold II acquired a territory of 2.3 million square kilometers on the south bank of the Congo River and founded the so-called Free State of Congo there. In accordance with the agreements, he undertook to take care of the welfare of the local population, “improve the moral and material conditions of their lives”, fight the slave trade, encourage the work of Christian missions and scientific expeditions, and promote free trade in the region.
The area of the new possessions of the king was 76 times larger than the area of Belgium itself. To keep the multimillion population of Congo under control, the so-called "Public forces" (Force Publique) - a private army, formed from a number of local warlike tribes, under the command of European officers.
The basis of Leopold’s wealth was the export of natural rubber and ivory . Working conditions on rubber plantations were unbearable: hundreds of thousands of people died from hunger and epidemics. Often, to force local residents to work, the colony authorities took women hostage and kept them in custody throughout the rubber collection season. For the slightest offense, black workers were mutilated and killed.
The author wrote
"Letters from Congo eyewitnesses, the last of which is dated September 27, indicate that forced labor, kidnapping, transportation of slaves in chains, and arson of villages continue to this day and have become familiar."
- Arthur Conan Doyle. Crimes in the Congo. The Daily Schedule, November 23, 1909
Conan Doyle “firmly believed” that the crimes committed in the Congo were “the greatest that humanity has ever known,” and he praised the Society’s reform efforts in the Congo .
The newspaper Daily Express praised Conan Doyle's book as "the most powerful indictment launched by the Belgian rulers of the war against this bloodied colony."